Author J.K. Rowling’s recent revelation that a central character in her Harry Potter book series was gay sent a shock wave through the world of ardent Potter fans.
Read any of the many message boards and it’s evident that the majority of them don’t have a problem with that — and neither do we — but it was clearly a surprise. And that makes us wonder.
If Rowling really wanted to make a statement and show a gay person in a positive light, why didn’t she make Albus Dumbledore’s sexual orientation clear in her books?
It’s true that might have caused a backlash. Her books already have been villified by a handful of misguided souls who want to ban the wonderful series, saying it promotes witchcraft.
But a clear portrayal of Dumbledore as a gay man would have had a greater impact on her audience than a comment at a forum. Kids and grownups around the world devoured every word of this series, which encouraged a generation of children to read more and use their imaginations.
The truth is, the sexuality of the adult characters in these books is rarely discussed and only in passing. The books revolve around themes of tolerance, hope and doing the right thing. Discussing their sexual orientation would have seemed gratuitous, as it does now.
Dumbledore was the benevolent headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was an awesomely wise, but decidedly asexual, grandfather figure.
Rowling’s comment that he was gay came at a forum at Carnegie Hall in New York where a Colorado fan posed this question: “Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself?”
Her answer seemed like an afterthought to the series, or perhaps the musings for a story line that went unexplored. The sexuality of Dumbledore apparently was his own business in the world that Rowling created in her Harry Potter series. Why out him now?
