DC Comics Criticized For Hiring Anti-Gay Superman Author

DC Comics has come under fire this week for hiring an author who opposes marriage equality to write the new Superman comic, the British newspaper the Guardian reports.

Those who oppose DC Comics' decision to hire Orson Scott Card have launched a petition, which has currently has more than 11,000 signatures, that urges the company to drop the controversial author. The outrage came soon after the publisher announced that Card would be penning the first issue of the new "Adventures of Superman."

Card, who wrote the bestseller sci-fi classic "Ender's Game," is a Mormon and is no stranger to spewing anti-gay comments. He once said that "the dark secret of homosexual society is how many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse, and how many of them yearn to get out of the homosexual community and live normally", and that same sex marriages are "the end of democracy in America."

Over 11,000 people have signed the petition, which was posted on All Out and calls for DC Comics to "stand up for equality."

"By hiring Orson Scott Card despite his anti-gay efforts you are giving him a new platform and supporting his hate. Make sure your brand stands for equality and drop Orson Scott Card now," the petition reads.

Zeus Comics, a comic store in Dallas, is also taking a stand against DC Comics as its storeowner Richard Neal took to his Facebook and wrote that he would not stock the comic.

"Card sits on the board of the National Organization of Marriage which fights against marriage equality," Neal wrote. "His essays advocate the destruction of my relationship, that I am born of rape or abuse and that I am equated with pedophilia. These themes appear in his fiction as well. It is shocking DC Comics would hire him to write Superman, a character whose ideals represent all of us."

Neal goes on to say that "if you replaced the word 'homosexuals' in his essays with the words 'women' or 'Jews,'" Card would not have been hired, asking "why it's still okay to 'have an opinion' about gays?"

DC Comics has responded to the outcry in a statement and said "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."

Some fans, however, have launched another petition to counter All Out's efforts.

"Card has been the subject of a number of attacks by those who want him to think like them, and are trying to force DC to fire Card simply for standing up for what he believes," the rival petition on iPetitions reads. "Superman stands for truth, justice, and the American Way. Superman would stand up for Card's right to free thought and free speech, even when it isn't popular. We think DC Comics should do the same."

Some may find it odd that DC Comics hired Card since the company made headlines last May when it was revealed that one of its major superhero's would come out of the closet. A few weeks later the publisher announced that the superhero in question was the Green Lantern.

DC Comics isn't the only comic publisher to have gay superheroes. Marvel Comic's X-Men series saw Northstar tie the knot with his boyfriend Kyle in June issue of "Astonishing X-Men." Additionally, Archie Comics published an issue centered around a same-sex marriage as well. In January of last year, Kevin Keller married his partner Clay Walker in "Life with Archie #16."