NEW YORK — Gay rights advocates are calling for a boycott of the upcoming release of the science-fiction film “Ender’s Game,” which is based on the 1985 novel by anti-gay activist Orson Scott Card.
The New York-based group “Geeks OUT” has launched the “Skip Ender’s Game” campaign and is asking moviegoers to boycott the film, scheduled for release in Novmber, 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.
“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,” the organization added. “The queer geek community will not subsidize his fear-mongering and religious bullying. We will not pay him to demean, insult, and oppress us.”
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Card, a resident of Greensboro, N.C., and primarily know for his science-fiction writing, has long had an adversarial stance against the LGBT community. A member of the Mormon church, he is a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage, having served on the board of the National Organization For Marriage (NOM) in 2009.
Card 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 2004 essay, Card wrote, “It is a flat lie to say that homosexuals are deprived of any civil right pertaining to marriage. To get those civil rights, all homosexuals have to do is find someone of the opposite sex willing to join them in marriage.”
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.”
On his anti-gay marriage activism, Card added, “With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state.”
Movie insiders have already begun distancing themselves from Card. “Orson’s politics are not reflective of the moviemakers,” one person involved with the film told The Hollywood Reporter.
Lionsgate Entertainment, the studio and distribution company releasing the film, has not responded to a request for comment on the boycott.
