http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/16/comic-book-stores-refuse-to-carry-hateful-homophobe-orson-scott-cards-superman-comic Comments On: Comic Book Stores Refuse to Carry Hateful Homophobe Orson Scott Card's Superman Comic by Paul Constant en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:00:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by Mittens Schrodinger]]> Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:50:00 -0800 The Stranger
The thing is, there are people in this country besides Card and the DC staff. And these people ALSO have a right to freedom of speech. This includes the right to refuse to sell Card's version of Superman, or to refuse to buy it, or even to try and convince others not to buy it either.

"Free speech" does not mean "Mandatory harmony." It doesn't always involve people recognizing their differences and singing Kumbaya. It often involves disagreement, insults, childishness, unpleasantness, protest, and yes, boycotts. This is a part of free speech, not a violation of it.

People can argue against someone's REASON for boycotting, but not against their legal ability to boycott. When the homophobes boycotted Starbucks over their pro-gay statements, I rolled my eyes. Not because I thought they shouldn't be able to boycott, but because the homophobia that motivated it is pathetic to me. I'd never argue that they were violating Starbucks employees' freedom of speech, though, because they weren't.

A more observant person would note that nobody who supports this boycott is proposing jail time or fines for people who do buy the comic. Nor are they proposing them for Card or the DC staff. See, THAT would be a free speech violation.

The only way to prevent a boycott like this would be to either: 1) Force the store to carry and sell Card's Superman comic; 2) Outlaw people's ability to argue and convince others not to buy it, or 3) Flat-out force people to buy the comic.

Would any of you concern trolls care tell me which of those options is in perfect accordance with the First Amendment? Or are you too busy calling the ACLU to report me for trampling on your rights by arguing against you?
Posted by Bonefish]]> Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:51:59 -0800 The Stranger Posted by undead ayn rand]]> Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:38:48 -0800 The Stranger
Yeah, it doesn't take a lot of analysis to figure out what's going on there, does it? If Card wasn't a Mormon, I'm sure there's a lot of like-minded priests who'd love for him to be the next Pope.
Posted by bobbyjoe]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:43:16 -0800 The Stranger Posted by TheMisanthrope]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:07:02 -0800 The Stranger
What this issue keeps reminding me of is that, thirty years ago, having anti-homophobic views was the controversial position that could get a guy fired.
Posted by DRF]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:21:01 -0800 The Stranger
You would force business owners to carry titles from bigots? That would directly violate their practice of free speech, congratulations. No "slippery slope" necessary.
Posted by undead ayn rand]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:16:48 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Rob in Baltimore]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2013 08:18:50 -0800 The Stranger
I hope it becomes a slippery slope so that hatemongers are shamed out of polite society, for good. It won't. sadly. Fuck their feelings. Fuck their/your overwhelming sense of entitlement.
Posted by undead ayn rand]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:40:56 -0800 The Stranger Posted by tkc]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:36:02 -0800 The Stranger I like the idea. I loved his Trek Tribble episode.
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/201…
Posted by BrianMyFatAss]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:31:26 -0800 The Stranger
And I haven't feverishly defended him. I quoted OSC condemning violence in response to @52 claiming that OSC has called for the murder of gays. Again, if someone can actually substantiate that claim, please post a link.
Posted by Amanda]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:04:17 -0800 The Stranger Posted by TheMisanthrope]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:54:48 -0800 The Stranger Posted by treehugger]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:30:03 -0800 The Stranger
Thus, this is preserving his own future and the future of other fringe artists to do what they want and not be punished with starvation for it. It's like the celebrities who came to the defense of Imus' racist remarks. And, I'd not advocate for the firing of anybody who is loudly anti-gay, racist, in my company, I'd strongly advocate for the firing of any spokesman of my company or IP who is racist or bigoted.
Posted by TheMisanthrope]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:29:10 -0800 The Stranger Posted by it would explain the logical SNAFUs on her part]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:27:58 -0800 The Stranger Posted by treehugger]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:26:54 -0800 The Stranger Posted by treehugger]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:23:57 -0800 The Stranger Posted by --MC]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:12:05 -0800 The Stranger
I mean, this really has nothing to do with first amendment rights. You can say it does, but this is business. Neither MSNBC, not CBS Radio nor Aflac wanted to be associated with the toxic mess.

FWIW, I disagreed with the Aflac one because it was an obviously shitty joke, and not evidence of a history of bigotry. And, Imus...I didn't care. He is a shitty person with a crappy radio show, and if others want to make money from his shittyness, whatever.
Posted by TheMisanthrope]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:11:23 -0800 The Stranger
If your position is that anyone who actively opposes gay marriage should be fired from their job, you have every right to express that. A lot of people are going to disagree with you, and not all of them are secretly anti-gay or secretly want gays murdered. Here's Dale Lazarov, a gay comic writer, who disagrees with you:

"I've known Orson Scott Card is a raging homophobe since the early 90s. I refuse to buy or read his work. But asking that he be denied work because he is a raging homophobe is taking it too far. Asking for workplace discrimination for any reason is counterproductive for those who want to end discrimination on their own behalf."
Posted by Amanda]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 10:52:29 -0800 The Stranger
It really makes me sad how few people have actually read the US Constitution.
Posted by undead ayn rand]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 10:19:56 -0800 The Stranger
You have a pretty fucked up understanding of the American Dream if you believe everyone should be entitled to make a healthy living from hate.
Posted by undead ayn rand]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 10:18:40 -0800 The Stranger
@79 It IS a right, here in America, to express yourself and make a living from it, handsomely, if you're so able to. This isn't the Stalinist Soviet Union, or Hitler's Third Right. It IS a freedom-of-speech issue because you're saying that OSC shouldn't be able to publish homophobic works or run homophobic organizations and those are forms of self-expression. Are you signing up to be leader of the thought police? Everything has to be liberal and inclusive, as determined by you, before it goes out? As easily as you restrict the expression of others, because you disagree with them, others can restrict your speech, your opinions, your perspectives.

Again, critics are absolutely free to criticize and give DC Comics hell. What I'm objecting to is this idea that only liberal progressives, or whatever we want to call ourselves, should have free reign of the marketplace of ideas. I'm objecting to thought censorship, which is inherently unamerican.

ALSO OSC running NOM or talking about having anti-gay laws or writing gays-as-pedophiles Hamlet revisions is not the same as him reading names and addresses of gay families so roving mobs can kill them, or standing on a hill firing a rifle as a signal for ethnic cleansing, or flat-out yelling "I'm going to kill you!" That's inciting violence and, as such, is considered assault. This is the whole yell-fire-in-a-crowded-theatre thing, a way of enlisting some unequal and unrelated hypothetical example as a support for restricting freedom of speech. I can expect that from totalitarian regimes, but the fact that it's coming from supposedly freedom-and-equality-loving liberals is a chilling reminder why *all of us* need to have our constitutional rights in writing and actively defended.
Posted by floater]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 10:12:35 -0800 The Stranger
Why is the right to live even up for discussion? Jefferson thought it so self-evident he listed it as one of the three rights in the Declaration of Independence.

Orson Scott Card does not believe that I have a right to consume oxygen. He disagrees with the Declaration of Independence, at least when it comes to gay people. He thinks it better that I be killed.

And here we are, in a forum where people are willing to defend him. This man is the antithesis of the very principles laid out in the document that started the country where you reside, and you think he should purvey those sentiments to America's youth through the comic book medium.

Over the years, I have become accustomed to accusations of being UnAmerican. I am a proud Leftist. I opposed the Iraq War before it began I aided and abetted Occupy Seattle and Occupy Tacoma. I am an atheist. a vegetarian, and a gay man. And in spite of my supposed UnAmerican-ness, I'm also a veteran and a returned Peace Corps Volunteer. I vote in every election, even for the minor local races and judicial elections.

For this reason I find it disgusting to see you suggest that independent, non-government private shop owners refusing to carry a comic book violates the First Amendment. If you'd ever bothered to read the fucking thing, you'd discover that it prohibits Congress from passing laws, not comic book shop owners from refusing to carry a title. Further, if you think this is a violation of the Amendment, you'd do better to sue or call a cop-the Constitution is law, not religion. It is not merely some principle that if abrogated is something you criticizer people for. It carries the weight of the law, and law enforcement is charged with ensuring it is carried out. Do not whine to me about how you feel the First has been offended-go call a fucking cop. The cops will laugh at you as it will be as clear to them as it is to me that you've never even read the thing.

It offends me more, because I have a right to live. That right precedes the Republic. It is something that OSC wants to deprive me of. And you feel that that's okay.

Fuck you. I am an American. And I will assert my right to live in spite of you. And in spite of OSC, DC and every other hack writer who thinks otherwise.
Posted by Tacoma Traveler]]> Sun, 17 Feb 2013 09:56:30 -0800 The Stranger