'Enr's Game' thor rponds to crics over gay marriage stance | CNN

Contents:

• ‘ENR’S GAME’ THOR RPONDS TO CRICS: THE GAY MARRIAGE ISSUE IS ‘MOOT’
• ‘ENR’S GAME’ DIRECTOR: AUTHOR’S ANTI-GAY VIEWS ‘VERY SAD’
• ORSON STT CARD’S ANTI-GAY VIEWS HNT ‘ENR’S GAME’ PREMIERE
• NO UNTRY FOR OLD HOMOPHOB: GAY ACTIVISTS LYNCH ENR’S GAME THOR

‘ENR’S GAME’ THOR RPONDS TO CRICS: THE GAY MARRIAGE ISSUE IS ‘MOOT’

"Neverthels, the antigay views of Card, a man who once sat on the board of the Natnal Organizatn for Marriage, and lled for the crimalizatn of homosexualy, have begun to eclipse any mer his award-wng story may offer to Hollywood's pantheon of science fictn anizatn Geeks OUT lnched s Skip Enr's Game mpaign July, urgg supporters of LGBT equaly to boytt the film when lands theatr on November 1, hop of sendg a msage that moviegoers will not tolerate antigay activism. But the effect of one of Card's most celebrated works may actually be to advance the msage of before Card's personal views on homosexualy ma headl, many LGBT fans who read Enr's Game were enamored wh the story.

Not only is the tale a great work of science fictn, but protagonist Enr Wigg's stggl also closely parallel a number of mon experienc had by gay youth. In fact, Enr's tale of empowerment works bt when s young protagonist is terpreted as a gay the exceptn of his sister, Valente, Enr shows no affectn toward femal throughout the book.

"And so for me, is so ironic that the wrer of the work that has helped so many [young] people, gay and straight, to fd empowerment, to feel empowered, to fd their own moral pass -- 's very sad that he, himself, is stgglg wh the issu. I thk what would be far more helpful is if dienc knew that the makers of this film, and the film self, holds the polar oppose pot of view to the current thkg of Orson Stt Card on gay issu. ""Regardls of s thor's clearly bigoted pot of view on gay marriage and homosexualy, this book was worth brgg to the screen, " says Hood.

‘ENR’S GAME’ DIRECTOR: AUTHOR’S ANTI-GAY VIEWS ‘VERY SAD’

Already rather beleaguered on the subject of diversy, DC ed a public outcry when announced the anti-gay Card would be scriptg a story about the Amerin in, and fally had to put the issue on hold fely. In 2008, Card lamented that he had for so long been labeled a "homophobe" bee of his stated posns on homosexualy. 1990: Card argued that stat should keep sodomy laws on the books orr to punish unly gays--prumably implyg that the fear of breakg the law ought to keep most gay men the closet where they belonged.

2004: He claimed that most homosexuals are the self-loathg victims of child abe, who beme gay “through a disturbg sctn or rape or moltatn or abe. 2008: In 2008, Card published his most ntroversial anti-gay screed yet,  the Mormon Tim, where he argued that gay marriage "marks the end of mocracy Ameri, " that homosexualy was a "tragic geic mixup, " and that allowg urts to refe marriage was a slippery slope towards total homosexual polil le and the classifyg of anyone who disagreed as "mentally ill:". A term that has mental-health implitns (homophobe) is now routely applied to anyone who viat om the polilly rrect le.

How long before opposg gay marriage, or refg to regnize , gets you officially classified as "mentally ill".

ORSON STT CARD’S ANTI-GAY VIEWS HNT ‘ENR’S GAME’ PREMIERE

When gay rights were beg enforced by the urts back the '70s and '80s, we were repeatedly told by all the proponents of gay rights that they would never attempt to legalize gay marriage. 2009: He joed the board for anti-gay lobby The Natnal Organizatn for Marriage, which was created to pass California's notor Proposn 8, banng gay marriage.

2012: He supported his home state North Carola's nstutnal amendment to ban gay marriage by argugthat gay marriage "will be the bludgeon [The Left] e to make sure that be illegal to teach tradnal valu the schools. Hamlet's Father: In 2008, Card wrote this hilarly paful Shakpearean fanfic that poss that Hamlet's father was a pedophile who molted most of the royal urt, wh the implitn that the abe ma them all gay. It also featur a gay male character who gets married for the good of society, bee he regniz that procreatn is his duty.

The book po the joy and love of his relatnship wh his wife, though, notably, Card don't attempt to "cure" the gay man, and sex ntu to be a chore for him. Songmaster was Card's attempt to show that he uld wre fairly about gay people—more specifilly, gay men, sce his wrg seems to pay ltle attentn to lbians.

NO UNTRY FOR OLD HOMOPHOB: GAY ACTIVISTS LYNCH ENR’S GAME THOR

However, Card's well-meang (sort of) attempt at pictg homosexual love is muddied by the creepy overton. The ma gay love story featur a young man who was groomed to be mostly homosexual a perasty-based society siar to Ancient Greece. I was not tryg to show that homosexualy was "betiful" or "natural"— fact, sex of any kd is likely to be "betiful" only to the participants, and is hard to make a se for the naturalns of such an obvly unter-evolutnary trend as same-sex matg.

So basilly, Card wrote a novel whose ma plot pot volv punishg homosexual sex, the guise of intifyg wh mostly gay men. The upg film adaptatn of the btsellg novel, Enr's Game has received a lot of attentn, not for fally adaptg the sci-fi classic to a blockbter movie, but stead due to the book's thor, Orson Stt Card, and his vilently anti-gay opns.

Card, whose views on gay marriage have long been publicly known, first me unr attack om earlier this year when DC Comics hired him to wre a new digal Superman ic seri, which end wh the illtrator leavg the ic over Card's views and a petn beg signed by thoands of rears llg for Card's adaptatn of Card's book is slated for a tentpole November release, and now wh the st and director dog the prs rounds for the movie at plac such as Comic-Con, they are havg to field qutns about the thor's anti-gay statements, and the ntroversy is poised to take the hype away om the film the thor himself may be anti-gay marriage, a book htg store shelv October, Enr's Game and Philosophy asks one of s chapters, "How Queer is Enr?