It's almost worse in a way because I would have assumed it just never crossed her mind as a hetero woman to include a gay character

I would think it might cross her mind to have someone gay, and then decide it's not worth the bother--is that the sort of thing you're docking points for? Seeing the 'fight' and deciding not to engage?

I found it fascinating to read people's reactions to realising the protagonists of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys were black. I don't give Gaiman any points for it, though, since they didn't feel very Jamaican (to me the reveal was of the nationality--once I got that far I didn't pay much more attention, but it certainly didn't ensure their race) because it was just something he said, and some dishes he named.

Which is to say--would it have been enough for JKR to say a) Dumbledore was gay and b) Dumbledore was in love with a very bad man, or would she have had to go farther to do the whole thing either convincingly or responsibly (as furthering her message of tolerance)?

eta: Total crosspost with Victor

I would think it might cross her mind to have someone gay, and then decide it's not worth the bother

But it appears to be worth it to her now that the series is safely wrapped.

is that the sort of thing you're docking points for?

I'm not sure it's fair to act like I'm judging when I'm reacting to something that she herself has brought to light. I've never come in and been like, "Hey, it's bullshit that there are no gays in the Potter series!" That would be "docking points" (though I still think it's fair to notice the absence of such a character).

"I was blinded by love for a time."

Which, to be fair, is somehow less evocative, smaller even, than "You cannot imagine how his ideas caught me, Harry, inflamed me.'"

Because the gay revelation changes nothing about the character. There's not a code going on here. ... not really, anyway. I very much do believe that it was Grindelwald's ideas and intellect that Dumbledore was attracted to, that was the crux of their relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic.

Err ... and then Dumbledore mastered his wand.

I was using docking points to denote disappointment, and apologise if it came off as painting you as more highhanded. If truth be told, I was thinking house points, so entirely twee.

it appears to be worth it to her now that the series is safely wrapped

She's never been in a position to reveal this much of the scenery, though. Now we can ask her anything--it's not like she called a press conference on his sexuality.

I wonder if she'll write anything different. People are going to want to suck her dry on this 'verse for a very long time.

I hear what you're saying, victor. I guess since straight love is all over the place, it'd be nice to have a concrete statement of gay love in just a few places, you know? She doesn't have a responsibility to raise gay issues but if she's gonna do it, would it have killed her to just do it in the text where it would have been really meaningful to a whole lot of people?

I think that if you'd like to live in a world where sexuality doesn't matter it's quite fair to not make a point about the sexuality of your characters.

I also don't believe Dumbledore would have revealed his love for Grindlewald to Harry had Grindlewald been a woman. To me, Dumbledore is just not a guy who talks about his personal feelings.

I also don't believe Dumbledore would have revealed his love for Grindlewald to Harry had Grindlewald been a woman. To me, Dumbledore is just not a guy who talks about his personal feelings.

esp to those he is teaching /leading / training. In a number of cases Harry has to come to decisions based on what he knows about Dumbledore. I'm not sure how Dumbledore felt was relevant to Harry.

I would have prefered JKR didn't say anything - but mostly because if it isn't in the book , it doesn't feel real to me.

and, I think I am repeating myself, but to the story , I don't think it matters if the adolescent thrall is intellectual or sexual. In real life, it happens. and I thought it was well done.

I think that if you'd like to live in a world where sexuality doesn't matter it's quite fair to not make a point about the sexuality of your characters.

That's been my take on it.

But it appears to be worth it to her now that the series is safely wrapped.

Reiterating what ita said a few posts up. Had JKR ever been asked about Dumbledore's love life previously? If so, did she dodge the question? Unless the answer to both these questions is "yes", I don't think your statement is fair.

I was going to look up something to back up what I'm going to try (and possibly fail) to say, and then I realized that googling "gay love explicit" would not help me in ANY WAY.

I'm a bit in both camps on this. (Also, I don't have the books at hand, so I could be completely wrong.) On the one hand, I don't think she wrote Snape's love for Lily as more explicitly romantic than Dumbledore's for Grindelwald, so I don't think she was necessarily hiding it (I really wasn't trying to make this point yesterday, just gathering data). She may well have thought that people would get that there was a romantic attachment there, or at least that an explicit "I loved him, Harry, yes, like that, yes I know he's a man, are you getting what I'm saying here?" scene didn't work in the story. And for that matter, except for Dudley's "Is that your boyfriend?" line, we've never gotten any mention of homosexuality at all, so she may envision the wizarding world as one where it doesn't need to be mentioned because it's not a big deal.

However. It is a big deal in our world, and she is a YA author which means reaching many impressionable yoots a) who will probably not have read the Dumbledore/Grindelwald thing as romantic and b) on whom the visibility of a gay character they already like could have made a big impact.

Actually, this reminds me of a comedian I once saw who dropped a comment to her lesbianism about 20 minutes into her routine, paused, and said, "See, I like to do it that way, because now the only thing that's changed... is you."

Mind you, I find the idea that Dumbledore's one great love occurred, what, 70 years ago? to be really sad. So I'm assuming he had an unmentioned longtime companion.