Florida fundamentalist group targets Marvel, retailers over Astonishing X-Men #51
Declaring Marvel has 'crossed the line,' a Florida fundamentalist group has launched an email campaign in an effort to convince the publisher, parent company Disney and retailers to pull from distribution Astonishing X-Men #51, the June issue that depicts the much-publicized wedding of Northstar and Kyle Jinadu.
Asserting that the comic 'asks kids to fantasize about having their own same-sex nuptials,' the Florida Family Association laments on its website 'that the comic strip actually has a blank wedding that children can use to make their own same-sex wedding. Talk about propaganda.' That's a reference to the Phil Noto variant cover (above), which depicts wedding photos of 10 heterosexual superhero couples, as well as Northstar and Kyle.
In a call to 'take action,' the organization encourages supporters to send a form email to Marvel, Disney and retailers stating that it is 'shameful that two companies like Marvel and Disney would deliberately create a superhero homosexual wedding for our children to embrace and mimic. These companies should show more respect to the overwhelming majority of families who do not want their children targeted with immoral social propaganda through comics.'
The FFA targets a dozen Disney and Marvel executives and editors, providing email addresses for the likes of Isaac Perlmutter, Kevin Feige, Robert Iger, Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort, and singles out Midtown Comics, Lone Star Comics and Comic Book Resources. Within a four-hour period Monday night, CBR received more than 500 identical emails from different addresses.
It's a familiar tactic by the Florida Family Association, a Tampa-based nonprofit organization whose sole paid employee is founder David Caton, whom The New York Times described last year as an account turned rock-club owner turned born-again Christian. The former executive director of the American Family Association, which launched its own unsuccessful campaign against gay storylines in Marvel and DC Comics titles, Caton appears preoccupied with the perceived dangers of homosexuality, pornography and Islam, spearheading efforts against high school gay-straight alliances and television shows like Degrassi High, Modern Family and All-American Muslim.
Although its website boasts that the FFA 'is made up of THOUSANDS OF SUPPORTERS across America who share in the same goal of improving America's moral environment,' Wajahat Ali of the liberal research group Center for American Progress disputes the claim, telling The Times, 'It's literally one dude with a poorly made Web site, one fringe individual with an e-mail list.'
Here's the text of the FFA's form email to Marvel, Disney and retailers:
Please pull X-Men #51 which promotes and asks kids to fantasize about homosexual marriage.
Marvel's X-Men #51 comic issue has crossed the line by attempting to legitimize same-sex marriage and asking kids to fantasize about their own homosexual wedding.
It is shameful that two companies like Marvel and Disney would deliberately create a superhero homosexual wedding for our children to embrace and mimic.
PLEASE have more respect for the overwhelming majority of families who do not want their children targeted with immoral propaganda through comics.
My family and I urge your company to pull X-Men #51 from distribution.
I look forward to your response.
36 Comments
Ignoring the obvious stupidity here, don't they know kids aren't the primary readers of comics any more?
You have it right, FFA is one guy. Not that dissimilar from Bill Donahue/Catholic League.
Please keep up the support. Astonishing #51 was such a nice issue I bought some of the art. Just a nice moment.
Don't they realize that gay marriages are already happening? Comics have always reflected current events. The X-men were created with many parallels to the gay community (people trying to exist and be happy in a world that fears and hates them). Maybe this group would be better served by looking at their own lives and trying to support rather than undermine others.
The only people who really know that kids are no longer the primary audience for comics are the people who read them and the people who make them who, all told, make up an infinitesimally small percentage of the population.
It's shameful that Marvel is encouraging kids to have their own super-hero cosplay weddings.
I am actually using their website to send PRO Gay Marriage emails to Marvel and Disney since they allow you to modify the message title and the body of the message. I've encouraged all my facebook friends to do the same. It's always nice when you can turned close-minded views around. Thanks for making it so easy FFA!!!!
If we are going by this same logic, does that mean that playing Call of Duty encourages kids to start shooting everybody? Or that watching Spider-Man encourages them to start jumping from rooftops or climbing walls? Or that watching Will & Grace reruns will make them gay?
Newsflash: By the time kids are entering puberty, between the ages of 10-13, they already have sexual desires and those desires are already defined. They either like boys or girls or both, period.
Thinking that an X-Men comic turns people gay it's bordering on stupidity.
I also expect to see a severe spike in alien weddings, fish-people weddings and little girls dreaming of marrying the sentient android from the other side of town. The one I literally cannot accept is Quicksilver. She's literally Inhuman, dude!
actually if you think about it why would marvel actually leave a blank space for children to draw or put gay
marriage I find this very concerning because I definitely won't want to raise a GAY child I'm a christian and love comics but I'm against all the gay superheroes this is utterly wrong and disgusting and I would not love to see my son on bed with another man I still don't see why a great country like the United States would support such nonsense
So what you are telling me is that my son can cosplay as batman while his friend superman and then let me as a parent support it and everyone on this forum that supports this nonsense should Listen 'WOULD YOU BE HAPPY IF YOUR SON TURNED OUT TO BE GAY'
Apparently, this guy has no idea how comic distribution works. Besides, they're not fantasizing about the gay wedding just because it's there (not that there's anything wrong with them if they do); the variant cover has like 10 other super hero weddings to pick from!
Wow that's guy in the FFA sounds pretty gay
1) Has this group noticed that the only wedding photo on the cover that is homosexual is Northstar's? There is nothing suggesting that the new 'photo' should be 'homosexual.'
2) Even if it did encourage a same-sex marriage, that should widely accepted. Even if one's bronze age superstitions keeps them from approving, that should have no bearing on what other private citizens can do with their lives.
Where was this group to protest an Android marrying a mutant? Hmm?
Who cares? The issue was completely awful.
Emmanuel:
Do you actually believe that blank spot is for children to draw their own marriage? How many retailers actually ordered that variant anyway? If they got it, I'm pretty sure it'd be out of any kid's price range. I notice you don't have an issue with The Scarlet Witch marrying The Vision. Am I to assume you're pro Synthezoid/Human marriage?
Regardless, why do you care so much? It's your kid, why not explain this stuff to them? Why is it the responsibility of media companies to shield your children from the realities of life and society?
If you're a troll, 7/10, you got me to respond.
Emmanuel: regardless of being gay or not, your kid is not here in this world for the sole purpose of pleasing you. Every person has their own desires and they have to be respected.
Its incredibly selfish of you to think 'I would not be happy if my kid turned out to be gay'. Tough luck, your happiness is your own problem, not your kid's.
Wait a second' there a black person marrying a white person?!? Shameful.
Didn't a human marry an alien in some sort of afterlife type ceremony (Swordsman and Mantis)? Wait' that's Mormonism, never mind.
@Emmanual The blank space is there so you can have a marvel artist draw a sketch'.NOT for little kids to draw their fantasies of gay marriage.
Also
1. who cares what people do in their own lives
2. if you are gay you were born that way'NOONE chooses to be teased and bullied their whole lives. IF you end up having a gay child, please love them because they were born that way. They didn't become gay because they read that everyones favorite X-Man, Northstar, got married to a dude.
3. Kids don't read comics anymore'..at least a very very VERY small percentage of comic readers are under 18 years old. They are all busy playing Call of Duty on XBox Live calling everyone racial and homophobic slurs
And while it would be jarring learning my child is gay, I'd still love and support my child with all my heart. And I'd know they would of gotten it from my wife's side and NOT by reading X-Men ; )
Did anyone else find Emmanuel's post really, really hilarious?
Also sad. Hilarious and sad.
Emmanuel ' so you'd rather see your son in bed with a woman? My advice to you would be not to shield your son from Astonishing X-Men #51 but butt out of your son's future sex life.
I think its hilarious that this organization is protesting this as a morally corrupting practice while not addressing anything about violence or the portrayal of women in comic books instead. As someone in a legal same-sex marriage, there is nothing violent or vile about a wedding. These groups have their right to an opinion, but focusing on banning everything that relates to gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender issues from the world is the wrong approach. The right approach is to address personal responsibility, decision-making, and critical thinking when it comes to marriage in general and engaging in a relationship that includes sex as a component. These groups seem blind to the reality that divorce is up and marriage rates are down in the USA. Teen pregnancy is at a 3 year low. But these groups seem to believe that protesting a comic book or a movie or a campaign for responsible practice of safe sex or the wedding of human beings is the real threat to society's moral compass. But again, media attention is all these groups want so they can get that much needed influx of cash for their coffers.
While this whole argument is deeply stenched in stupidity, I will make the following points for clarity:
As mentioned, nobody knows comics aren't targeted at kids. Although if there was ever a valid need to respond to one of these things, I'd love for the challege by the publisher be that the complainers prove that children are actually being exposed to the product instead of just assuming it.
I don't think people who don't know comics are aware that the other photos are of other super-hero weddings. They would be interpreted as other guests at the gay wedding.
People who are opposed to gay weddings might understand that people are gay, but they think gay people should hide their gay-ness, in the same way a pedophile should resist his or her urges. *Not saying that's right*, but just to point out that saying 'people are gay, get over it' doesn't actually respond to the haters' issues.
'Where was this group to protest an Android marrying a mutant? Hmm?'
They were busy protesting the interracial marriage also prominently featured on this cover.
'If we are going by this same logic, does that mean that playing Call of Duty encourages kids to start shooting everybody? Or that watching Spider-Man encourages them to start jumping from rooftops or climbing walls? Or that watching Will & Grace reruns will make them gay?'
I guess you missed the last two or three decades where, yes, groups like this have latched on to every single one of these idiotic notions. Also rock music, that's killing America.
'actually if you think about it why would marvel actually leave a blank space for children to draw or put gay
marriage'
Good point, let's just get rid of paper entirely, just in case our kids collectively start drawing gay things.
'because I definitely won't want to raise a GAY child'
Well, I've got good news for you, sir: multiple studies have shown that people do not 'raise' gay children, they just give birth to them. So, if your kids turn out to be gay, it's not because you didn't 'raise them right,' your DNA just happened to be genetically predisposed to being physically attracted to other men.
'I would not love to see my son on bed with another man'
I wouldn't either. I also would not love to see my daughter in bed with a man OR woman. Because I'm not a skeevy perv.
Conversely, I'd be fine showing up to my daughter's wedding whether it was with a man or woman. Heck, if nothing else, turning out gay would save me the trouble of having to worry about one of those pesky teen pregnancies down the line, I am a practical man after all.
I'm more bothered by that android/human couple they have in there. Androids and humans (even if it is a mutant) should not be allowed to marry. Sure give them their civil unions but marriage is between one homo sapien and another. What they show there is BLASPHEMY I tell you?!?!?! Damn all this propaganda!!!!!
I do wonder if they noticed that though haha Are they ok with androids more than gay people?
I find it so funny that those people who are opposing gay marriage claim that they have the right to voice their opinions and that everyone must respect their beliefs.
First of all, its pretty hard to respect someone's beliefs when they violate the rights of an individual. I bet there were a lot of 'Christians' back then who felt that black people should not be allowed to do many things that any normal person should be allowed to do.
Second of all, I wonder if they also respect the beliefs of Muslims or Jews as they want theirs to be respected.
@ Emmanuel
I dont care if my child is gay.
As long as they are health & happy
That should be your only concern. They could be in a straight relationship & things could also go wrong.
They could be beaten & harmed by the person they love or care about. straight or gay.
'I notice you don't have an issue with The Scarlet Witch marrying The Vision. Am I to assume you're pro Synthezoid/Human marriage? '
Hey now, Scarlet Witch is a mutant. If we're going to point out the various awful/deviant practices going on on this cover, let's accurately portray how immoral they are.
Personally, I'm tempted to buy a copy just to draw a Rocket Raccoon/John Stewart wedding on it. Same sex/interspecies/interdimensional/interracial weddings are like the worst. Plus, I bet Rocket Raccoon probably qualifies as a midget or something.
As a 55 year old Gay Man, Married to a wonderful Soul Mate, and as a comics reader since 1963, ALL I CAN SAY IS WHAT A LOAD OF EVIL, SMALL MINDED, HORSECRAP. I have nephews that love comics, were brought up to understand the diff b'twn a comic book and real life, and to understand the true meaning that Love Makes A Family. I applaud Marvel and look forward to more such interesting high points in the comics industry. As for DC's Earth-2 story line, my heart broke over Alan Scott losing his love so soon into the introduction of these characters. I hope he finds someone who deserves him.
I changed the email letting all the companies that the email goes to know about how I support the comic and then I send him an email thanking him for having such a nice setup so I can let them know how much I liked the comic
'First of all, its pretty hard to respect someone's beliefs when they violate the rights of an individual. I bet there were a lot of 'Christians' back then who felt that black people should not be allowed to do many things that any normal person should be allowed to do. '
This is, to date, one of my all time favorite memes:
http://weknowmemes.com/2012/05/imagine-how-stupid-you-are-going-to-look-in-40-years/
What I find hilarious is that the FFA doesn't know that Northstar is from Canada where it is perfectly legal for homosexuals to get married.
Also. The FFA is completely unaware the underling theme of X-men has been acceptance of those considered different or mutants. So even now, X-men is continuing to unsher readers into a world of civil rights that all started back in the 60's.
The Florida group has the right to voice their belief and I'll defend their right to do it. However, I do NOT have to respect their belief. Especially, if I think it's based upon some half thought-out ideal that has little or no basis in the reality that I and the majority of the humans live in.
@ Jonathan
You're right! Although, wasn't Scarlet Witch depowered after M Day? She got her powers back in Children's Crusade or something, right? I was under the impression that the removal of the mutant gene left her powerless.
Hahaha great idea Christopher G!!!! I just went ahead and did the same thing. =)
@ Jonathan: exactly. Most 'Christians' are bigoted, close-minded individuals who do not embrace any kind of change.
And I say this with authority because I was born and raised a Catholic.
I too took the opportunity to use their site to send my own version of this form letter to their distribution list.
'Bravo to Marvel's X-Men #51 comic issue as an attempt to champion same-sex marriage.
It is shameful that two companies like Marvel and Disney have taken so long create a superhero homosexual wedding in a manner that makes it easy for our children to embrace. Furthermore, it would be more meaningful to see a characters homosexuality as something other than THE defining characteristic of that character. It is something that should just be accepted. This could easily be done by showing the character dating and living life rather than making it the focus of the story as was done in this issue.
PLEASE have more respect for the overwhelming majority of families who want their children to grow up tolerant of the multiple cultures throughout both America and the world.
My family and I urge your company to continue to promote X-Men #51 and to continue creating comic books that push the idea of social tolerance.
I look forward to your response.'
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