J.K. Rowling Outs Hogwarts Character

NEW YORK (Oct. 20) - Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.

After reading briefly from the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she took questions from audience members.
She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love."

"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.

Credit to: http://news.aol.com/entertainment/story/_a/jk -rowling-outs-hogwarts-character/200710200706 09990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001#cmntbgn  

I'd like to know everyones thought ect/ Does this change/alter your views on the series. For yourself or material for your children.

It alters nothing for me. I mean, the people who burn Harry Potter books already think the content is evil, so what does it matter? Also, it's nice to see a nod to the gay community in such a famous series. Dumbledore is one of my favorite characters.

Do you think it's important?

Well, I don't have a problem with him being gay. But I have a bit of a problem with "Dumbledore is gay" being a response to "Does Dumbledore find true love?"

Like gay people don't find true love?

I was flicking through telly-text when i saw the same thing!!! I thought I had imagined it until i went online and checked it out.

Personally I'm thrilled. I don't know why but I just really think it fits.

As for kids... um, what about them? Dumbledore doesn't go around the books shacking up with men, so it shouldn't be a problem. So far I've sen some pretty harsh reactions as well as positive ones. People take it far to seriously, it's not in the books, she only briefly mentioned it to explain a plot of the book and so it won't really affect anything.

Though, for the fanfiction world those people who think dumbledore and mcgonagal are together will be very shocked :D

Why should a character being gay (and "outed" only in a reading after the books were already written) change your mind about letting your child read it?

jdroller, that wasn't the whole response, her response was that he was gay and that his true love was someone he had to defeat and put in prison.

So... the very old man whos in charge of a bunch of kids is...gay?...

Oh yea, im sure thats going to go over well with the "conservative" population.

But, i think its great. At least they didnt pick the creepy guy or something else that would seem like it was fitting into a stereotype. Dumbledore is a respected and wise person... so i think it will be interesting for those who have a problem with the issue of homosexuality to have to go against their already formed (positive) opinions of him.

Oh. So Grindelwald is gay, then? Or was Dumbledore's love unrequited?

I'm glad that there is a major character in a famous series who is gay, but I know there's going to be some serious backlash. I wouldn't want to be JK Rowling right around now.

waving hand as one of the "conservative" population!

It changes nothing on how I view the book. Loved it, love it, still love it, will still let my kids read them and Dumbledore being gay changes nothing on how I view the book or Dumbledore. He's a loving, awesome guy.

Anyone who doesn't let their child read a book because a character is gay should have their ability to be a parent revolked. 

As a what some may call...an over obssesive HP freak....Dumbledore being gay doesn't change anything for me...what I wonder though...is whether or not his sexuality was just an after thought.  As far as I can remember her character development of Dumblerdore never once pointed towards him being gay.  And JKR is a great writer and I wouldn't think she would over look something like that if it was indeed something she intended.

Oh darn...I'll have to read all the books over again to see if I missed any hidden cues haha

Congrats on coming out, Dumbledore! :D I kinda wish it had actually come up in the books though....

First Tinky Winky, and now Dumbledore?! Oh, no!!

just kiddin' .. the people who would be unhappy about this already don't approve of the whole Harry Potter series. You know... sorcery and all that.

 

Original Post by tigerlily120:

Oh. So Grindelwald is gay, then? Or was Dumbledore's love unrequited?

From the AP article...

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."

Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his "great tragedy."

Original Post by tigerlily120:

I'm glad that there is a major character in a famous series who is gay, but I know there's going to be some serious backlash. I wouldn't want to be JK Rowling right around now.

 Eh, why should JK care? She's already rich, its not like they are going to pull her books of the shelves or anything. Last I checked, she had more money than the queen herself...

Uhh.... I have absolutely nothing against gay people (especially since one of my really good friends is), but isn't that kind of random? It just strikes me as something like, "Well, the books are over and done with, but I want to make a social statement."

Don't get me wrong: I think JKR's an amazing person, but I thought this was a hoax at first.

It probably actually wasn't that random. J.K. Rowling knew the plots to all the books before she even finished the first.

The thing is, they're children's books that circle around three main characters. Dumbledor serves as the merlin mentor type. His sexual preference really just wasn't relevent to the story. (And where would you add that in? "By the way, Harry, I'm gay."?)

That, and J.K. also managed to do a terrific job avoiding contraversal topics in her books. To just throw that in there would bring a lot of misunderstandings.

I have to agree with the *after the fact* issue. I mean, yes, the books are for children, but what is the point of outing him now?

It's kinda like Tolkien returning from the grave to claim "he's Gandalf the Gay."

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

I don't read HP, but it was my understanding the series was finished? This seems really um... stupid. So a character is gay. A character in a book series that is finished. What was the point of outing him after the fact? Would have made a better statement in the books than behind a podium.

UGH who the hell cares? I mean really. If she came out and said "he likes mangoes" no one would care. No one should care about this.

Leave it to Rowling to have thought out every detailed aspect of her characters, whether mentioned in her books or not.

I'm now looking forward to the inevitable hysteria from the religious right.  It's always so amusing.

By the way, gay people are less likely to be pedophiles than straight people.  Most pedophiles are straight men.  

By the way, Homosexuals account for only 1-2% of our population based on surveys. The National Opinion Research Center found that 2.8% of men and 1.4% of women identified themselves as ?homosexual? or ?bisexual. A survey of a 18-49-year-old men published by the Journal of Sex Research indicated that 2.6% of them had engaged in homosexual sex within the prior 12 months; 4% had had homosexual sex within the past five years. In other words, at least 98-99% of our population is heterosexual in orientation.

Homosexual activists routinely claim that most child molesters are ?heterosexual? males, thus shifting the focus away from their own very high rates of molestation. Since 98-99% of the population is heterosexual, it is technically correct to say that most molestations are done by heterosexuals. However, statistics indicate that homosexuals pose a far more serious threat to children than do heterosexuals.

Credit http://www.traditionalvalues.org/urban/one.ph p

Your comment is correct and incorrect at the exact same time, Clairelaine. Because a higher percentage of homosexuals are pedophiles compared to the percentage of heterosexuals.  If 100 heterosexuals were pedophiles out of 1,000,000... And 5 homosexuals were pedophiles out of 10, then that's over half of the homosexual population who are pedophiles, even though Heterosexuals obviously have more, it's a very small percentage of that demographic.  The numbers are for demonstration, but it's the same concept.

Back to the topic of the thread:  I'm a huge fan of JK Rowling's Harry Potter books. I've read all of them and seen then in theater the first showings.Dumbledore is actually my favorite character, always has been. That fact remains. However, this is a children's book sexuality shouldn't be geared towards children. Sexual orientation wasn't relevant to her character's development or the plot. Therefore, I'm glad it wasn't added into book since it held no importance. Some people try to put way too much importance on the nuances and forget the substance. It just wasn't relevant.