Refreshing the internet's memory
Amidst the controversy surrounding the news that Orson Scott Card is going to write for DC and there is finally some progress being made on the long-planned Ender's Game movie, a very important fact keeps getting lost. That is the fact that Orson Scott Card wants homosexuality to be criminalized. He does not merely oppose gay marriage or merely write homophobic screeds, as his supporters claim. Most of his detractors are willing to accept this claim at face value and simply say that's bad enough. Perhaps they don't know the full extent of Card's anti-gay opinions. So here it is again: Card wants homosexuality to be illegal. He has advocated changing US federal and state laws to make it a crime for two mentally competent, consenting adults of the same sex to have sexual relations with each other, even in their own home. His opposition to extending the benefits of officially recognized marriage to same sex couples is just the foot in the door, one step on the road that leads to criminalization of any homosexual activity. Ultimately, he wants to go back to the days when police raided private clubs and even individual homes of people suspected of being gay. He is not just trying to stop marriage equality; he wants to overturn Lawrence vs. Texas, the Supreme Court decision that ruled police raids on the homes of suspected gay individuals and couples unconstitutional, and then proceed to getting laws passed in every state and/or at the federal level that would require the police and court system to hunt down and punish LGBT people.
I see people saying that it's just about Card's personal opinions, his freedom of religion, his freedom of speech. It's not. I see people saying that it's just about the marriage issue. It goes far beyond that. People who reject him just because of his work against marriage equality or his hateful statements are not wrong to do so. But even if you are one of the many people who do think that's wrong, you should know and acknowledge that Card's intentions to harm LGBT people go farther. Also, anyone who posts civil libertarian defenses of Card should stop it. Card wants the government to be empowered, even duty-bound, to break down the door to your bedroom if someone suspects the friend who's sleeping over might be your lover. That is not hyperbole.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/80123.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I see people saying that it's just about Card's personal opinions, his freedom of religion, his freedom of speech. It's not. I see people saying that it's just about the marriage issue. It goes far beyond that. People who reject him just because of his work against marriage equality or his hateful statements are not wrong to do so. But even if you are one of the many people who do think that's wrong, you should know and acknowledge that Card's intentions to harm LGBT people go farther. Also, anyone who posts civil libertarian defenses of Card should stop it. Card wants the government to be empowered, even duty-bound, to break down the door to your bedroom if someone suspects the friend who's sleeping over might be your lover. That is not hyperbole.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/80123.html. Please comment there using OpenID.