Lionsgate Entertainment, the studio behind the upcoming science-fiction epic “Ender’s Game,” responded Friday to an impending boycott of the film by gays rights advocates, and said the reasoning behind the effort is “completely irrelevant” to the film.
“Ender’s Game,” scheduled for release in November, is based on the 1985 novel by anti-gay activist Orson Scott Card.
The New York-based group “Geeks OUT” is behind the “Skip Ender’s Game” campaign, and is asking moviegoers to boycott the film in response to Card’s anti-gay activism.
“Do not buy a ticket at the theater, do not purchase the DVD, do not watch it on-demand. Ignore all merchandise and toys. However much you may have admired his books, keep your money out of Orson Scott Card’s pocket,” writes Geeks OUT.
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But Lionsgate, which said it would host a benefit premiere of the film to support the LGBT community, said there is no correlation to Card’s anti-gay activism and the film — of which Card himself is a producer.
As proud longtime supporters of the LGBT community, champions of films ranging from “Gods and Monsters” to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and a Company that is proud to have recognized same-sex unions and domestic partnerships within its employee benefits policies for many years, we obviously do not agree with the personal views of Orson Scott Card and those of the National Organization for Marriage.
However, they are completely irrelevant to a discussion of “Ender’s Game.” The simple fact is that neither the underlying book nor the film itself reflect these views in any way, shape or form.
On the contrary, the film not only transports viewers to an entertaining and action-filled world, but it does so with positive and inspiring characters who ultimately deliver an ennobling and life-affirming message. Lionsgate will continue its longstanding commitment to the LGBT community by exploring new ways we can support LGBT causes and, as part of this ongoing process, will host a benefit premiere for “Ender’s Game.”
Card, a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage, having served on the board of the National Organization For Marriage (NOM) in 2009, has publicly declared his disapproval of homosexuality, calling it a “deviant behavior” and saying “gay rights is a collective delusion.”
In his anti-gay activism, Card has called for laws that ban gay sex to “remain on the books… to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society’s regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society”.
In a statement issued Monday, Card told Entertainment Weekly that “Ender’s Game is set more than a century in the future and has nothing to do with political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984.”
Meanwhile, Geeks OUT says that “by pledging to Skip Ender’s Game, we can send a clear and serious message to Card and those that do business with his brand of anti-gay activism — whatever he’s selling, we’re not buying.”
