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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyOctober 22nd, 2007
Those who follow the Harry Potter series of books will by now have read the final episode, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So I’m sure I’m spoiling no secrets when I tell you that one of the subplots involves the relationship of revered headmaster Albus Dumbledore during his youth with his rival Gellert Grindelwald.
But what you may not know is that the relationship was more than a friendship based on mutual admiration of magical abilities. No, Albus was blind to Grindelwald’s ambitions because, gasp, he was smitten.
According to the Chicago Tribune, author J.K. Rowling set the record straight for her fans at a recent appearance:
She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds “true love.”
“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.
But Rowling is no fool. She’s aware that her revelation will not bring her adoration from some camps.
Not everyone likes her work, Rowling said, likely referring to Christian groups that have alleged the books promote witchcraft. Her news about Dumbledore, she said, will give them one more reason.
No doubt.
(hat tip GoodAsYou)
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Patrick
October 22nd, 2007
I must say I found the response a bit odd:
“Does Dumbledore find true love?”
“Dumbledore is gay”
As if that precludes him from finding true love.
I don’t think the comment is a reflection of Rowling, but perhaps of some deeply embedded beliefs in Western society about gay love and the possibilities thereof. Just like in “Brokeback Mountain”, true love is beyond the characters’ possibilities – the only resolution for the situation is loneliness, repression, death, etc.
Nonetheless, kudos to Rowling for her honesty and imagination.
Joel
October 22nd, 2007
I can’t wait for the christian fundies to start with their rhetoric about gay dumbledore! I cant fathom what their rhetoric will be, but rest assured, I’m sure they’ll make it interesting.
Samantha Davis
October 22nd, 2007
I think the reason why her comment was worded the way it was was because the rumors were that Dumbledore was in love with McGonigal. So, I think that she might have interpreted the question to refer to that.
Michael
October 23rd, 2007
Patrick, I agreed with your analysis until reading the full Trib article. After saying that he was gay, she goes onto explain his true love/not finding true love with the boy in his childhood—which doesn’t seem to be predicated on his being gay, but rather Dumbledore being blind to his love’s failures. It was definitely meant as an “oh wow!” statement, but was also just prefacing the fact that his flirt with true love was with another guy.
But I agree—kudos to Rowling.
PiaSharn
October 23rd, 2007
(note: I tried posting this once, and it didn’t seem come up. So if I end up posting this twice, I appologize.)
Patrik, that isn’t exactly how the question, or her response, was phrased. Perhaps if you saw the exact quotes, the statement would make more sense…
(via the transcript at The Leaky Cauldron)
Question: “Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself?”
JKR: “My truthful answer to you… I always thought of Dumbledore as gay. [ovation.] … Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald, and that that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was. To an extent, do we say it excused Dumbledore a little more because falling in love can blind us to an extent? But, he met someone as brilliant as he was, and rather like Bellatrix he was very drawn to this brilliant person, and horribly, terribly let down by him. Yeah, that’s how i always saw Dumbledore. In fact, recently I was in a script read through for the sixth film, and they had Dumbledore saying a line to Harry early in the script saying I knew a girl once, whose hair… [laughter]. I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter, ‘Dumbledore’s gay!’ [laughter] If I’d known it would make you so happy, I would have announced it years ago!”
She also explains a bit more about her statement in this article.
Hope that clarifies things a bit.
Joel
October 24th, 2007
TY piasharn for the transcript. Now things make more sense. 1) I heard she just came up with it when they asked her the question, which definately doesn’t seem to be true.
2) THe part where the SCRIPT said dumbledore slid the note saying something about a girl I was under the belief that it was not in a script, but rather, on one of the earlier books.
That scriptwriter probably didn’t see it coming tho, heh.
Patrick
October 24th, 2007
Thanks for the additional context. Obviously the apparent “word-play” wasn’t Rowlings but a construct of those reporting her comments.
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