Harry Potter’s Gay Daze
The buzz around the internet today is about Harry Potter. Rather, about Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books. As writer for The Book Stacks, I feel I should weigh in on this.
At a reading of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows at Carnegie Hall in New York, with one thousand grand prize winners (of Scholastic’s Open Book Tour Sweepstakes) who had “plus one� written on their invitations eagerly listening, J.K. opened the floor for a question and answer session.
One of the questions asked was this: Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself?
In a move that gave one more reason for anti-Harry Potter people to hate the books, J.K. announced that she had always thought of Dumbledore as a gay man.
Gasp, horror, shock? No. Wild applause, according to reports of the event.
First off, good on the people who applauded for showing not everyone hates gays and lesbians.
Secondly, I, like Dave, wish J.K. would have put something more solid in the books. At this point, revealing that information could just be shoved off as one more thing to gain Harry Potter some press before the whole phenomena dies down too much. (That was my first conclusion when I heard the news.) What better way to stir up a fuss than by declaring a much loved character gay?
Like Aurora, I would like to ask, ‘Who cares?’ Yet, I think about it, and I do. You read about the incident of my book being burned, yes? Well, if I had any Harry Potter books, I could kiss them goodbye as well after this announcement. That’s why I care and why I’m glad Rowling was open and relaxed enough to reveal this information. I think how people take this information – even if they liked Harry Potter before this – will reveal a lot about their character. So thanks to you, J.K., for - if nothing else - using your influence to stand up for being open-minded.
Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Dumbledore, coming out, gay, homosexuality, news, books, New York, Carnegie Hall
October 21st, 2007 at 8:53 am
I’d just like to note that the “Who cares?” wasn’t in the reference as to “Who cares about Harry Potter?” or “Who cares how this will affect the literary world?” It was more in reference to “We shouldn’t care that a character (or person) we love is gay. The fact that they are gay shouldn’t be what dictates our opinion of them. We shouldn’t care…but we do.”
In any case, thanks for linking me. I lurk here often
October 21st, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Thanks for stopping, Rori! I’m sorry about implying what you said meant something else. I tend to go off into my own little world when I talk about things.
And I agree with you completely.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:43 pm
[...] with quite a force. Truthfully, it really doesn’t change anything within the series of novels, as Dumbledore’s sexual orientation never really figured into the plight that Harry, as Rowling’s heroic character has to face, [...]