oops, he's been outed

[chanter1944]

In light of what I saw on the BBC Worldservice website this morning. And no, this is not the rant about possible ads on said site. that's upcoming--oh, is it ever.

J.K. rowling has revealed that Albus Dumbledore is homosexual.

I know it's all over blogs and fansites this morning, and I agree with Rowling going "Oh, God, the fanfiction," in the wake of the admission. but I need to take a second to applaud here.

dumbledore is the Harry Potter series' John Avery Whitaker; he's the Everyman, the wise figure that all others are compared to, at least in the eyes of Order members. He's enigmatic, cryptic to a fault when he finds it necessary, and quirkily elegant; truly as close to the ideal of a school headmaster as a person can get without descending into parody. the man is many things, with one notable exception.

Obvious he most certainly isn't.

thank you, J.K. Rowling, for creating a character with a distinct personality and worldview, strengths and flaws and idiosyncracies, and for not making his sexuality anything more than a natural part of his life. too often homosexual characters are made to stand out simply because of who they are attracted to; either they're flamingly obvious, or they're misunderstood, or someone deliberately points out that 'Well, you're *gay*, so,' when in reality sexuality is no more a defining characteristic than heterosexuality. Yes, it matters, but it's only one facet in a very large construct.

Thank you, J.K. rowling, for realizing that we don't have to be defined by who we sleep with, and that we don't all stand out in a crowd because of which way we lean. We've got personalities for that. thank you, in short, for realizing that we're normal.

ahem. That's my piece said. *waves a wizarding rainbow flag?*

Comments

[jewelledfairy.livejournal.com]

Eh? Really? Well, he never really seemed interested in anybody to me. I agree with the line about the fanfiction. Having it in-cannon just makes for more fodder.