I think this announcment is great because it is a rare example of a gay character that was just "an average guy" who happens to be gay. I mean, I think people should be themselves, and some people are more flamboyant than others. However, I think it can be agreed that the media usually portrays gay charcters in a different manner than their straight counterparts. By waiting until now to reveal this, Rowling has tricked the world into accepting a character that is not all together sterotypical. I think this, in some senses, is rather groundbreaking.

LOL! Nursing home man...Good one!






Cheerio, Mikey

Of course Dumbledore was gay. He walked around in his dressing gown all day, had a fab fashion sense and most people were scared of him for no apparent reason - because they never speak of why they fear and respect him.

All that adds up to Gay lol

Who couldn't tell with that excellent taste in purple robes he had?

MooYak wrote:

QUOTE:
And he even has a fag-hag in Mrs. McGonagall... they would have been perfect for each other if he wasn't gay. :P

LMAO! True dat. But ew, of all the potential gays in the book, it's saggy ol' Dumbledore. Couldn't be a student?

I think it's great. Everyone around me is acting like some great tragedy happened, or sumthin'. People keep saying it's random, too. I want to know how it's random. Many of us assumed he was heterosexual; we assumed wrong, end of story. And on top of that, no it doesn't move the story along, but come on, a kid asked has Dumbledoor ever been in love. What was J.K. supposed to say: "Sorry, that's not in the books". Pft. Way to destroy the magic for the kid.

Sorry for the mini rant: W00t for Dumbledoor.
And while, I do agree partly with the 'then it wouldn't have been a children's book' thing, I wish she'd at least strongly hinted at it. Like maybe a scene in the book were Dumbledoor stares longly at a picture of Grimwold.
Anywho, srry for the long post xD

I wasn't surprised at all by this revalation when I heard it the first time. In fact, I had guessed it quite awhile ago. I can't really say why I thougth it.. but I knew it was true. I do think that it was a great idea to keep it a "secret" until everyone had read it. Showed everyone that someone who is gay doesn't have to be horribly different, and introduced a new generation of hopefully open minded children to new possibilities.



Also... Dumbledore didn't kill Grindewald (spelling probably wrong) If you pay any attention to the last book at all, you would know that Voldemort interogates him on top of a tower in another wizard prison, and then kills him after finding out that Dumbledore had the wand.

Can I just point out that if we're going to look at the book for references to homosexuality, then absolutely everyone in the wizarding world wears flamoyent robes. Purple, green, pink, banana yellow are all common place. The most sombre robes in the book are those of Hogwarts and those of Death Eaters. As such, Dumbledore wasn't at all going against wizard dress convention and that takes away the whole "Purple robes, what a pouf!" thing that people seem to have going on. Also, another hint at an allegory in the books would be Harry himself, who is kept in a cupboard under the stairs until he begins to discover that he is a wizard, a cupboard uner the stairs also being known as a "closet". He's kept in a closet because he is seen as unnatural by the Dursleys who hate him for his abnormality until the final book where Dudley recognises Harry's worth.

Rowling has said that she lets her themes grow organically, just letting them slide in when they're appropraite, and as such there are only a few themes common to the whole series, including family and friendship and death. This means that the exclusivity of the homosexual references in the book should not be dismissed because they're only in a small part of it, as she only uses tiny instances to display a moral message in many of the books.

Hey, English Literature wins over stereotype once more!<br /><br />Post edited by: Kanae, at: 2007/11/17 12:38

WOAH! I suddenly see Harry and Dumbledore's relationship in a whole new light!