“If we only allowed art from artists we agreed with, we’d have pretty terrible art. I’m not going to dismiss the Declaration of Independence because Thomas Jefferson had a slave.” – Ender’s Game producer Roberto Orci defending his movie (and rabid homophobe Orson Scott Card) in yesterday’s LA Times. And while it’s true that history is littered with examples of great artists with shitty views (Wagner’s anti-semitism, Norman Mailer and Picasso’s misogyny, Coco Chanel’s working with the Nazis, Woody Allen’s parenting style etc etc), the difference here is that Orson Scott Card didn’t just spout off his shitty homophobic views in some magazine somewhere, he worked very hard, donated a lot of money, and was absolutely instrumental in the passage of Prop 8. He was, in fact, on the board of directors of the National Organization for Marriage. THAT’S why we shouldn’t line his pockets with the money from book sales. Because he uses that money to do us harm. Now discuss among yourselves.