Harry Potter And The Diversity Seminar

J.K. Rowling just about turned the table on the entire literary world.

The other day, Rowling answered a reader’s question while at a reading at Carnegie Hall [right next to where I work!]. One individual questioned Rowling, asking if Dumbledore, the man who trumpeted love to be the most powerful of things to exist, would ever find it himself.

“Dumbledore is gay” Rowling answered.

She went on to say that his first love was Grindelwald, a wizard more enticed by the dark arts than anything else. Dumbledore’s interests were not returned, and instead Grindelwald turned towards a life of evil, forcing Dumbledore to end his former love interest’s wrong doing.

I’ve gotten into a lot of conversations yesterday surrounding this subject, and have heard a variety of different points of view. Some people are annoyed, saying what’s the point in revealing this information after all the books have been released. Others are saying why wasn’t it explicitly written in one of the volumes. Then there are some that believe that who cares what sexual orientation, it shouldn’t matter in the least.

Then there are the people who flip their shit and try to ban the books from every library and bookstore from Augusta to Seattle. Because yes. You caught us. This is how we turn you gay. The Velvet Mafia has been paying off Rowling for years with promises of fame and fortune if she’d only make one of her popular characters a homo.

I can understand the different viewpoints on this. If Dumbledore was gay, why not right it in the books? Why not talk about a past boyfriend or his adopted Asian baby? I don’t know about you, but I feel like if this information came across Harry, Ron and Hermione, the whole theme of saving the world from the ultimate evil would become a bit confused. In terms of penning a book about the battle between good and evil, what gets off a single character seems to be a bit cheap and unimportant.

And while I appreciate those who say ’sexual orientation doesn’t matter’, we all know that isn’t true. If it were, no one would care that half the leading men in Hollywood are gay. Nor would people wonder or care about anyone else’s sexuality for that matter. No, how someone identifies in terms of orientation is still a matter of concern, if not just for those who have to deal with the ignorance of others.

For me, this coming out is more than welcome. It is long past the time where a member of the LGBT community can live their life as a homosexual AND be viewed as a role model for both adults and children.

AT THE SAME TIME.

When considering the portrayals of gays in our media, you’d be hard pressed to find one that can be used as a pillar of morality. Gays typically fall into one, if not more, of a bevy of stereotypes. They could be flamboyant, sexually loose, unable to maintain a relationship or an overly militant ‘freedom fighter’. Rarely is there someone you would want your child to grow up to be.

Then steps up Albus Dumbledore. Viewed as the father figure to Harry, a bastion of good and just to the downtrodden and one of the most cared and adored characters in all of fiction, Dumbledore was no less than a hero. And for him to identify as gay, I believe, is shattering boundaries that were previously unsuccessfully explored.

One of the other reason I love this turn of events is the thought process it could instill in people. For many, when thinking about the stereotypical person, that person is viewed as straight. Straight is the ‘norm’, whereas ‘gay’ deviates from that norm. That is to say, someone has to be identified in some way as gay before they are labeled as such. Until then, they’re assumed straight. Think of it as innocent until proven guilty.

I’m excited to see the backlash this will cause, if only to hear the statements of those dumb enough to let negative words escape them. But at the least, internet, pay attention. it will be interesting to see where this will be heading.

(I’m excited for Fox News clips. HEY! Maybe they’ll get Ann Coulter!)