DC Comics has defended hiring Orson
Scott Card, a board member of the National Organization for Marriage
(NOM).
The decision to hire Card to write the
new digital comic Adventures of Superman has been protested by
the group AllOut.org.
“We need to let DC Comics know they
can't support Orson Scott Card or his work to keep LGBT people as
second-class citizens,” the group wrote in an online
petition which has received more than 8,000 signatures as of
Wednesday. “They know they're accountable to their fans, so if
enough of us speak out now, they'll hear us loud and clear.”
The backlash to hiring Card has
received backlash of its own, with NOM President Brian Brown blasting
the effort to oust Card.
“This is completely un-American and
it needs to be stopped,” Brown said in a statement. “Simply
because we stand up for traditional marriage, some people feel like
it's okay to target us for intimidation and punishment.”
“Marriage is the union of a man and a
woman,” he added. “That is not hateful. That is not bigoted.”
Card has stated that marriage equality
would lead to the end of civilization, supports the criminalization
of gay sex between consenting adults and has threatened to abandon
the United States if it legalizes such unions.
“If America becomes a place where the
laws of the nation declare that marriage no longer exists – which
is what the Massachusetts decision actually does – then our
allegiance to America will become zero,” Card said.
A spokesman for DC Comics told gay
glossy The
Advocate that Card was welcome to hold his own opinions.
“As content creators we steadfastly
support freedom of expression, however the personal views of
individuals associated with DC Comics are just that – personal
views – and not those of the company itself.”
The new digital comic will be written
by guest writers, the spokesman added, of which Card would be one.
Card is best known for writing Ender's
Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, both of which
won Hugo awards.