So, apparently Dumbledore is gay.

[Skar]

Who knew?

Discuss...

I found out about this a few days ago and haven't figured out how to respond yet.  Why be an activist now?  Make him gay in the books if you really want to make a statement.  Doing it after the fact seems kind of lame and weak. 

Like, "I really wanted the money so I couldn't put him in the books, but now I really want the activist props, so I'm going to 'reveal' it."

[Spriggan]

My understanding was she was asked by a fan if he was and she replied yes, could be wrong though.

In the same discussion she said the series was very Christian centric and she didn't go heavily into until the last book because she didn't want to give away anything.

[pengwenn]

There is one thing I don't like about this annoucement.  I don't like the fact that when children reread the books (and you know they will) they will be looking at Dumbledore's and Harry's relationship differently . . . and possibily suspiciously.  This might effect some of that "magic moment" they first had when reading the series.  I don't have a problem reading about a character who is gay but as an author don't decide (or announce) it after the fact.  Make your case in your writing and be done with it.  As a reader I feel like I've been sucker-punched and then laughed at.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I think way too much is being made of it. I can't really care about it. I mean, the only reason it's coming up is because people refuse to use their imagination and think of what happened to the characters or fill in the blank. Blah. The series is over. If you want to tell us more about the characters, write another frickin book. Otherwise, Rowling, fans, both of you, shut up.

[The Jade Knight]

I think it's pretty lame.  If Dumbledore was gay, and this never came up at all (not even in Skeeter's controversial biography) in the text, then it seems inconsistent to me.

I find myself thinking the same way as Skar.

[42]

I agree with Fells points.

Mostly I just think it's stupid to bring it up now.

Course, I now see Dumbledore portrayal in the movies being changed. If they make a 7th movie there will be discussion or rumors of some erotic scene with Dumbledore and Grindelwald to appease the gay rights movement.

[stacer]

Actually, all the reports I read say that this came out not because a fan asked, but because she saw the movie script for book 6 and the script referred to an old love interest of Dumbledore's--a girl. And she said, well, no, that won't work, because he's gay. She then went on to say that the reason Dumbledore was so blind to Grundelwald's evil was because he was in love with him.

I personally don't think it was necessary, but it was, in fact, apparently something she'd intended as part of the backstory at least as long ago as writing book 7.

[Sigyn]

Bleh.

[charity]

 One young fan asked if Dumbledore finds “true love,” and Ms. Rowling replied, “Dumbledore is gay.”
I got that from the NYTIMES website.

I think it's a stupid publicity stunt. And that my kids will never hear it brought up in our house. when they are older and have figured it out on their own then they can be as offended as I am.

It does sort of ruin the series though. I'll try to forget it was ever said.

[Skar]

I mean, the only reason it's coming up is because people refuse to use their imagination and think of what happened to the characters or fill in the blank. Blah.

Knew it all along did you?  Ol' Dumbledore and Harry make quite the Spartan couple, no?

[Tink]

I agree with Charity and plan to do the same thing. I love the books. I'm going to ignore what Rowling said and still treat Dumbledore as not gay, and not mention it to my kids when we read. I REALLY hope they don't include anything about it in the movies. It may just ruin them for me. I really don't see how it helps the storyline.

[Aen Elderberry]

She then went on to say that the reason Dumbledore was so blind to Grundelwald's evil was because he was in love with him.

I thought, from reading the book, that he was blind to Grundelwald's evil because of his love for power.  And it made him more noble when he declined to be Minister of Magic because after his experience with Grundelwald he recognized that he couldn't trust himself with that much power.

But perhaps, if you want to read that he is "gay," there is nobility in his celibacy.  Dimbledore is obviously an astute observer of human nature.  If you take the Christian view you might say that he recognizes his desire for power as well as his other desires as being dangerous and not in either his or society's best interest.  (And yes, I realize I could get flamed for this comment. 

Or perhaps there is something of George Bernard Shaw in Rowling.   In Pygmalion there is an attraction between Eliza and the Professor and apparently the fan fiction of the day had them getting married.  But, apparently just to annoy people, Shaw claimed that Eliza married Freddy and had to work the rest of her life to take care of the worthless lump.   So "ditto" on letting the book stand on it's own.

[Skar]

If you take the Christian view you might say that he recognizes his desire for power as well as his other desires as being dangerous and not in either his or society's best interest.

Amen brother.  I hadn't looked at it that way.  Dumbledore's gayness and his apparent celibacy (since absolutely nothing in the books even hints that he ever acted on his homosexual desires) is actually a stirring example of self-control, noble even.  Since everyone knows that homosexual desires are, in fact, present in some segment of our population, Dumbledore's example is, in fact, a good one. 

Way to go Rowling.

Of course, now that people are talking about this, it will behoove Rowling and/or same sex activists to ensure that Dumbledore is shown to have  a gay lover in the films, self-denial being the absolute anathema of the same-sex movement.

[stacer]

She then went on to say that the reason Dumbledore was so blind to Grundelwald's evil was because he was in love with him.

I thought, from reading the book, that he was blind to Grundelwald's evil because of his love for power. 

That's how I read it, too, and how I prefer to keep my reading. I was just reporting the author's thought process behind it that I'd heard elsewhere. However, there is that added layer now. It makes me think of Brideshead Revisited--even if there was never a homosexual relationship, there were some tendencies and subtle layers there that just made you go, "odd... why?"

[EUOL]

My thoughts.  Should get posted to TWG front page soon.

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article.php?id=51