Rowling outs Dumbledore

[[R-CON]MrD]

Private school, gay headmaster in charge of our children? Doesn't anyone have any issues with this? Apparently the fanfic writers don't.


JK Rowling outs Dumbledore as gay

Michael Gambon plays Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has revealed that one of her characters, Hogwarts school headmaster Albus Dumbledore, is gay. She made her revelation to a packed house in New York's Carnegie Hall on Friday, as part of her US book tour.
She took audience questions and was asked if Dumbledore found "true love".
"Dumbledore is gay," she said, adding he was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, who he beat in a battle between good and bad wizards long ago.
The audience gasped, then applauded. "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy," she said.
"Falling in love can blind us to an extent," added, saying Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down" and his love for Grindelwald was his "great tragedy".
"Oh, my god," Rowling, 42, concluded with a laugh, "the fan fiction".
Rowling said her books are a "prolonged argument for tolerance"


Fan sites have long speculated on Dumbledore's sexuality as he was known for having a mysterious, troubled past.
Rowling told the audience that while working on the planned sixth Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she saw the script carried a reference to a girl who was once of interest to Dumbledore.
She said she ensured director David Yates was made aware of the truth about her character.
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell welcomed the news about Dumbledore and said: "It's good that children's literature includes the reality of gay people, since we exist in every society.
"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."
And a spokesman for gay rights group Stonewall added: "It's great that JK has said this. It shows that there's no limit to what gay and lesbian people can do, even being a wizard headmaster."
Daniel Radcliffe plays Harry Potter in the films


Rowling also did a brief reading from the seventh book in her best-selling series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as part of her Open Book Tour of the US - her first there for seven years.
She said she regarded her novels as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" and urged her fans to "question authority".
But she added that not everyone likes her work. Christian groups have alleged the books promote witchcraft. The author said her revelation about Dumbledore would give them one more reason.
The seventh Potter book broke sales records on both sides of the Atlantic when it was published in July, selling 11 million copies in 24 hours.
The fifth film adaptation of the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released this summer. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due for release late next year.

[Harrod200]

Originally Posted by [R-PUB]MrD

Private school, gay headmaster in charge of our children? Doesn't anyone have any issues with this? Apparently the fanfic writers don't.

Nope, why would they?

[DOAW]

And in other news: Who cares?

[H3eadshot]

Originally Posted by [R-PUB]MrD

I am disappointed that she did not make Dumbledore's sexuality explicit in the Harry Potter book.

What the f**k do they want? A full on Harry and Dumbledore, hardcore sex scene?

Gotta' admit though, they are great books..


Nice constructive post their DOAW.

[[R-CON]MrD]

Well, we have to take half of this news in context. The slashing and shipping side of fanfics is disturbing to say the least in many cases. You find many kids googling for fan fiction and don't need to be coming across the sort of stories these elements of sexuality and relationships provide.

I suppose the onus is on the fanfic writers not to take childrens books and turn them into adult material.

[[R-DEV]GeZe]

First comment on digg about it:

When is she gonna reveal the whole series is gay?

[Harrod200]

Originally Posted by [R-PUB]MrD

Well, we have to take half of this news in context. The slashing and shipping side of fanfics is disturbing to say the least in many cases. You find many kids googling for fan fiction and don't need to be coming across the sort of stories these elements of sexuality and relationships provide.

I suppose the onus is on the fanfic writers not to take childrens books and turn them into adult material.

Sexuality is a part of life, and some authors write a lot of sexual activity into their fanfics and others may simply mention it in passing, or have the character be and act 'normal' (for lack of a better word), and just happen to have a same-sex partner.

As is often the case on the internet, it's up to the parents to impose restrictions and monitor a child's use if they believe them to be at risk. The internet is the real world, in screen-sized form and is just as dangerous; you wouldn't let little Jimmy go wandering off around town alone, would you? Internet is just the same; you don't feel your child should see something, establish a white-list and you do the googles for suitable stuff, don't get bitchy when you walk in and he asks you what a 69 is after you let him loose.

Personally (as a member of online author groups) I don't like explicit sex in any form but some do. It's up to parents to determine what their kids are allowed to watch, not just sit them infront of the monitor and go do whatever, as many do with TVs.

If you're a parent who just sits their kid(s) infront of a computer then complains when they find something nasty (what was it? 60% of internet traffic is pornographic?) then you're not doing your job, and are obviously expecting other people to pick up the slack for your half-arsed parenting and are no better then people who expect for games companies to stop making 18/AO rated games because when you bought it for your 10 year old it fucked them up.

So no, the onus is NOT on fanfic writers to steer clear, it's on parents who don't want their kids reading such things to read/skim the fanfics before letting their kids read it.

[OiSkout]

Well since Harry Potter is gay already(as in sucks), I don't see what difference it makes! Hahah.

But who the hell really cares? He's a headmaster of a magic school. It's like being surprised the male coach for a cheerleading team is gay. You can't look at it being simply a private school, it's way too general.

[[R-MOD]Wasteland]

Originally Posted by [R-PUB]MrD

Well, we have to take half of this news in context. The slashing and shipping side of fanfics is disturbing to say the least in many cases. You find many kids googling for fan fiction and don't need to be coming across the sort of stories these elements of sexuality and relationships provide.

I suppose the onus is on the fanfic writers not to take childrens books and turn them into adult material.

There is nothing sexually explicit about a person being gay, anymore than there is something sexually explicit about a person being straight.

I never thought of you as a bigot before. Are you writing tongue in cheek?

[[R-CON]MrD]

I simply do not like the idea of adults taking childrens literature and sexing it up then shoving it back in the public domain where children are searching for the material (although they weren't searching for all the sex!)

As we know, the slashing demographic is usually 21-35 year old women, white collar, intelligent, tend to wear the trousers in their house. They should therefore think about who can get hold of their material and maybe pick adult literature in the first place, not kids literature.