# Orson Scott Card and homosexuals **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300 "2002-08-23T21:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/41 "2002-08-26T13:45:32Z")
> [@](#): > > I find I’m beginning to like Card better! When he says provocative things I agree with, he’s my brother. And I truly love it when conservatives and I turn out to share opinions. But as a responsible journalist, I have to ask the boring Mormon Church/gay marriage question now. This is pretty much: (A) Sums up her style (and she calls herself “responsible”) and (B) Ol’ Orson comes apart at the seams. There ain’t NOTHIN’ pretty in that article. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/42 "2002-09-06T23:50:23Z")
Are we supposed to infer anything from the fact that the aliens in _Ender’s game_ are called “Buggers”? (I haven’t read the book; that tidbit was in the Salon article.) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/43 "2002-09-07T02:35:59Z")
Jab: probably not. In the Ender universe, humans have the habit of using idiotic-sounding, baby-talk nick-names for alien species. “Buggers” for insect-like aliens, “piggies” for porcine aliens…I kept expecting swearingalong the lines of “pee-pee” and “doo-doo” Fenris ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/44 "2002-09-07T20:52:52Z")
I got into an enormous argument with a friend of mine over the article cited in the OP. I find Card’s stance on homosexuality to be consistent with his church’s doctrine, and not as a personal issue. I think that stance is morally WRONG, but I believe Card is being a good Mormon in the only way he knows to be. He does not stray from his church’s views. Since I have a problem with people who pick and choose which parts of their religions apply to them, this makes me respect Card more than I would if he were, for example, a Catholic who claims it’s OK to use birth control. If Card spoke up in favor of homosexuality while proudly declaring his Mormonism, I’d call him a hypocrite. What I find interesting is that the entire Ender series comes across (to me, anyway) as an homage to secularism. I was very surprised to find that Card was so deeply religious, because up until then my only exposure to his work was the Ender books. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/45 "2002-09-07T21:45:44Z")
There is a passage in his new book that really seems to let loose his opinion on the role of heterosexual marriage in the meaning of life. I don’t have the book in front of me, but I will type an exceprt later. I thought of this thread when I read it. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/46 "2002-09-07T21:52:40Z")
I read _Ender’s Game_ years ago, and can barely remember what it’s about, but it is interesting to note that Card lives practically just down the street from me. Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/47 "2002-09-07T23:03:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by burntsand \* > \*\* > > I don’t recall any “blatantly sexual scenes” involving children. \*\* They sneak around nekkid in the dark. There is a towel they wear or sleep with. I found it disturbing. Why do the kids have to be naked to escape the monitoring equipment? They could wear aluminum foil hats or something. I also found the children making decisions about the death of adults to be offensive. Lost Boys was disturbing to, particularly regarding the child molester. Another Wagnerite agrees that the man was not a nice person. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300/48 "2002-09-08T00:40:20Z")
The nudity kinda bothered me in a way I couldn’t put my finger on. It wasn’t sexual. In fact it was anything but. I imagine it was much like soldiers who hide nothing from their fellows. It was one more way of showing that these were children acting as adults. It was just kind of creepy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orson-scott-card-and-homosexuals/125300.md?page=2)