Harry Potter and the Wizard of Gayness

- Daniel

Recently, JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, revealed that one of the main characters, the school master Albus Dumbledore, is... wait for it... gay. (see BBC's JK Rowling outs Dumbledore as gay)

This stunning revelation came during a Q&A session in New York's Carnegie Hall on this last Friday, being part of her US book tour.

Gay hero and gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell jumped right on the news. "It's good that children's literature includes the reality of gay people, since we exist in every society." (Oh, good, even fictional societies). But wait, the series is over and there was no mention of Dumbledore's sexuality in the books, so the beloved children's literature still doesn't include the reality of gay people. Tatchell goes on to explain, "But I am disappointed that she did not make Dumbledore's sexuality explicit in the Harry Potter book. Making it obvious would have sent a much more powerful message of understanding and acceptance." Just how 'explicit' does Tatchell require? I think the books were fine as they were. Maybe she can write an adult prequel for the gay community later on, depending on the 'explicitness'.

But that's fine if Dumbledore is gay, really. I still like his character, because JK Rowling didn't fall under the sway that so many writers over here in the states fall under, mainly screenwriters of TV and movies. And that is she made Dumbledore's character interesting and developed for reasons aside from the nature of his sexuality. Often times in film and movies, if a character is gay, he is automatically 'interesting', grounded on the fact that he is gay. They are portrayed as having everything figured out, kind and tolerant, etc. Which is fine, I just think that gay characters need to be interesting for other reasons aside from the fact that they're gay.

The British television show Doctor Who pulled this off with the character Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman, who is gay, and stars in the last 5 episodes of series 1. His character does not act with the usual stereotypical mannerisms of the homosexual characters often portrayed in American movies and television shows. Also on a side note, John Barrowman was considered for the lead role in NBC's Will and Grace, but was turned down because the producers felt he was "too straight", despite the fact that he's gay, so the role went to Eric McCormack, who in reality is straight. Barrowman expressed his contempt at the idea that all gay men act the same way.

But back to JK Rowling and Dumbledore. She could've revealed this little bit of information at any time. After getting a round of applause, which is pretty easy to do when you advocate gay rights in New York, she said "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."

I don't think the richest woman in the world is worried about making people happy. Her series is ended, and she claims she isn't writing any more Harry Potter novels. The first thing I thought, was this was a publicity stunt. She's trying to stay in the game, keep her name out there. Whether Dumbledore's character has always been gay in the author's mind, I'm not doubting. But the timing of her public revelation is a bit suspicious. Her last book broke records, selling 11 million copies in 24 hours. With this announcement, though, she's bound to get more sales. Imagine all the books that hardcore Christian churches will buy, just in order to burn them.