A rainbow sticker clings to The Comic Book Shoppe’s front door.
Located in the gay village at 228 Bank St., the store displays more than famous superhero series such as X-Men and Batman behind its windows.
There are also a few homosexual-themed comics.
But since mid-February, customers haven’t found any comics by Orson Scott Card.
Card writes a well-known Iron Man series and rose to fame in the 1980s for penning the renowned science fiction novel Ender’s Game.
Card wrote an essay in 2004 that called gay marriage a “potentially devastating social experiment.”
He’s also on the board of directors of an American organization that opposes legalizing same-sex marriage.
The Comic Book Shoppe made the right decision to not stock his works because doing so would go against the village's purpose: to be gay-friendly.
Rob Spittall, co-owner of The Comic Book Shoppe, says he learned about the author’s homophobic views after DC Comics announced last month it would release a Card-penned Superman series in April.
That was enough of a reason to stop selling his comics, Spittall says.
His store is a private business, so he can decide what he wants to stock. Besides, why should he sell something comic book lovers don’t intend to read?
There’s a lot of backlash against Card creating a Superman series. A petition on a gay rights advocacy website that asks DC Comics to drop the author has more than 16,000 signatures.
A petition supporting him on another website has fewer than 230 names.
Though other stores have stopped stocking Card’s comics due to Internet outrage, Spittall’s decision to do the same is especially important.
In 2005, the gay village committee began lobbying Ottawa to acknowledge the neighbourhood as such.
The city officially recognized the village less than two years ago by adding street signs with rainbow decals to Bank Street intersections at James, Nepean and Somerset streets.
Stocking comics with Card’s name on the cover would be a disservice to the committee’s tireless, six-year effort to create a homosexual-inclusive
community.
In fact, The Comic Book Shoppe has always been gay-friendly and supported the village, says Ian Capstick, the committee’s business relations chair.
Capstick, who adds he’s a comic fan, says the store hangs rainbow flags for Capital Pride and is a business that “actively and excitedly supports its gay and lesbian customers.”
Why would Spittall jeopardize his store’s reputation, the niche market it holds and the respect of a neighbourhood which it calls home?
It’s clear he made the right choice.
Besides, when customers open a door that has a prominent rainbow sticker by the handle and a number of homosexual-themed comics behind the windows, it’s safe to say they don’t want to flip through a comic that a controversial homophobe wrote.