Homestar Runner Wiki Forum :: View topic - Rowling Outs Beloved Character

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."

BBC Article wrote:

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."

I didn't know whether to chuckle lightly or groan audibly so I just sighed and moved on with my life.

BBC Article wrote:

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."

I didn't know whether to chuckle lightly or groan audibly so I just sighed and moved on with my life.

Anybody can be anything they wanna be, except for a wizard headmaster!

Jeez.

It wasn't mentioned AT ALL in the books and it didn't affect the plot in any way, so... what's the point? I call attention grabbing.

Even though it wasn't directly stated in the books, it was heavily implied.

Quote:

Even though it wasn't directly stated in the books, it was heavily implied.

Feel free to provide some supporting evidence for this statement.

And honestly, it bothers me. Dumbledore is one of my favorite characters of all time and the fact that he's gay kinda ruins that.

(Feel free to call me a bigot.)

First Gandalf, now Dumpledore. Who next, Obi Wan?

OH! Um.. actually no, that's not what I was talking about. I just thought the quote was ridiculous. But for your excellent work at Freudian interpretation, you receive this year's Sigmund award. All expenses paid trip to Vienna included.

Yeah, but now I can't help but thinking there are two San Fransisco's now.

You know what this is going to do for the "HARRY POTTER IS EVIL AND WILL DESTROY YOUR KIDS!!1!!ONEONE!!11!!!" people, right?

Also, when will the gay community boycott Rowling for being a hatemonger? I mean, she killed the gay character!!!

What was highly touted among biblical christians as "christian"

This sort of thing makes me think that some people really are stupid. Let's get real for a moment. The character in a book is an IT. IT does as the author allows IT to do. It has no life of ITs own, makes no decision and thinks only the author's thoughts. IT is not going to jump into my bed, molest me in the gents lavatory, ogle me, make lewd suggestions. IT can't.

Moreover, in the case of the Harry Potter books, whether IT is gay or not is meaningless unless the matter is germane to the plot. I don't believe in this case it is.

Author:	KartoonKween'D [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:09 am ]
Post subject:	Rowling Outs Beloved Character
Dumbledore! I'm sure that we all have an opinion about this. Should Rowling have outed her character in the way that she did? Should she have directly mentioned it in the books? Was this a victory for tolerance, or a blow? Should she have kept this tidbit of information a secret? Was this nothing more than a sincere answer to a question asked by a fan, or a sly ploy for more publicity? How does this affect the "Harry Potter" series's status as a "children's book"? I'm personally glad that Rowling outed her character in the way that she did. I think that if she directly referenced homosexuality in her books, some parents wouldn't want their children to read them anymore. I think that by telling telling the world that her beloved character was gay after everyone read the books, she was more effective at winning a victory for tolerance.

Author:	Vitruvian Dude [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:16 am ]
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This is called "OH CRAP I'M OUT OF BOOKS I NEED A WAY TO GET MORE ATTENTION!"

Author:	KartoonKween'D [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:17 am ]
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Nah. She has enough attention. Just because her books are over hyped doesn't mean that Rowling's an attention whore.

Author:	Inverse Tiger [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:21 am ]
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BBC Article wrote: 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." I didn't know whether to chuckle lightly or groan audibly so I just sighed and moved on with my life.

Author:	StrongRad [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:23 am ]
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You know what this is going to do for the "HARRY POTTER IS EVIL AND WILL DESTROY YOUR KIDS!!1!!ONEONE!!11!!!" people, right? When will the ACLU press for hate crime charges against Snape for killing him? Also, when will the gay community boycott Rowling for being a hatemonger? I mean, she killed the gay character!!!

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Author:	Choc-o-Lardiac Arrest [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:23 am ]
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This sounds like an Attention Whore move to me. Next thing you know, it turns out that Ron is a furry and Hermione's cat is actually an amorphic dog, and thats why Ron married her. Also, ten bucks says HUGO becomes a free radical. HUGO >:(

Author:	Duecex2 [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:26 am ]
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Inverse Tiger wrote: BBC Article wrote: 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." I didn't know whether to chuckle lightly or groan audibly so I just sighed and moved on with my life. OH I GET IT lol, inverse.

Author:	Dark Grapefruit [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:49 am ]
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It wasn't mentioned AT ALL in the books and it didn't affect the plot in any way, so... what's the point? I call attention grabbing.

Author:	lahimatoa [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:02 am ]
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Dark Grapefruit wrote: It wasn't mentioned AT ALL in the books and it didn't affect the plot in any way, so... what's the point? I call attention grabbing. Aaaamen. Stupid. Dumbledore's sexuality was not a part of the books at all and then she comes out with this after book 7 is out? Dumb. And honestly, it bothers me. Dumbledore is one of my favorite characters of all time and the fact that he's gay kinda ruins that. (Feel free to call me a bigot.) I think I'll just ignore the announcement and move on. Quote: Even though it wasn't directly stated in the books, it was heavily implied. Feel free to provide some supporting evidence for this statement.

Author:	KartoonKween'D [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:31 am ]
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lahimatoa wrote: Quote: Even though it wasn't directly stated in the books, it was heavily implied. Feel free to provide some supporting evidence for this statement. I don't have my book with me (I'm in my college dorm right now), so I can't provide quotes at this moment. However, I can tell you what I remember. I remember Rita Skeeter referring to Dumbledore and Grindelwald's relationship as "unnatural". I also remember reading about how Dumbledore was so heavily drawn to Grindelwald. If you ask me, Dumbledore being gay makes perfect sense. I know that it's amazing what foreshadowing you can find when you reread a book. People were saying that the whole Harry/Ginny romance was sudden and wasn't built up to, but after rereading some of the earlier books, I found that their were plenty of clues. That's just Rowling's style: she foreshadows things in a very subtle way, and then BAM! She reveals something that catches us off guard. EDIT:: Here's an article on the subject that you might find interesting: Seven Clues that Dumbledore is Gay

Author:	Didymus [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 5:14 am ]
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First Gandalf, now Dumpledore. Who next, Obi Wan? If it mattered at all to the story, why not bring it up in the story? And if not, then why bring it up now?

Author:	furrykef [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 5:41 am ]
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I doubt it was a publicity stunt. She has no particular incentive to get publicity right now, and she doesn't strike me as the type who would get publicity for publicity's sake. I'd think that she said Dumbledore was gay because, well, he was. I doubt she just made it up on the spur of the moment. lahimatoa wrote: And honestly, it bothers me. Dumbledore is one of my favorite characters of all time and the fact that he's gay kinda ruins that. (Feel free to call me a bigot.) But why should it ruin it? It's not like it even matters. It doesn't make the Dumbledore you know any different. Didymus wrote: First Gandalf, now Dumpledore. Who next, Obi Wan? Wait, what's this about Gandalf? - Kef

Author:	Didymus [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:17 am ]
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Ian McKellen.

Author:	furrykef [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:20 am ]
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Oh. Well, actors and characters are two different things

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Author:	Duecex2 [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:35 am ]
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Inverse Tiger wrote: OH! Um.. actually no, that's not what I was talking about. I just thought the quote was ridiculous. But for your excellent work at Freudian interpretation, you receive this year's Sigmund award. All expenses paid trip to Vienna included. I don't know why, but I'm cracking up right now.

Author:	Dewy [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:48 am ]
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Choc-o-Lardiac Arrest wrote: Yeah, but now I can't help but thinking there are two San Fransisco's now. No, just two Castros.

Author:	furrykef [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:04 am ]
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I hate to be a cranky ol' mod, but I'm just gonna ask that this thread not be taken too lightly, mmkay? The "headmaster" thing was already out of line, COLA's comments are largely irrelevant, and so forth. So far I've let it slide, but I'm not gonna let the thread continue down that road. So, please, stick to the topic and I don't mean by making crude jokes, all right? - Kef

Author:	Mike D [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:26 am ]
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StrongRad wrote: You know what this is going to do for the "HARRY POTTER IS EVIL AND WILL DESTROY YOUR KIDS!!1!!ONEONE!!11!!!" people, right? Also, when will the gay community boycott Rowling for being a hatemonger? I mean, she killed the gay character!!! The anti-Potter people were already 100% certain the series was evil, and you can't really improve on that. This will certainly fan the flames of their hatred, but it won't make any essential difference. They're inconsequential and I expect Rowling knows that. I expect the LGBT community's overall reaction will be happiness that Rowling included a gay character, but some disappointment that she waited until the series was over to out him. Others, however, will say she played it smart, waiting until the character became an intractable part of pop culture before springing this news. You already know and love the character, now you find this out...how do you react? It's more than a little analogous to the process people go through when a friend or family member comes out to them. Suddenly your affection for this person gets weighed against your opinion of their sexuality. If you've never had a person you have strong feelings for come out to you -- and it can happen to anyone and at almost any time -- then this Dumbledore business is giving you a little preview of the experience. As for Dumbledore being "the" gay character, who's to say Rowling won't out someone else later on? Mike

Author:	Marshmallow Roast [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:31 pm ]
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You know, I can understand Rowling’s reasoning. There are some little bits of random character trivia that you might not find a good opportunity to provide in the book itself, but that are valid fact anyway. Anyone who writes books probably has a whole compendium of knowledge about each and every character- that doesn’t mean it’ll make it into the book. It was only a matter of time before someone asked about Dumbledore’s love life, so why not tell the truth she had established in her mind? And personally? I think that’s kinda cool.

Author:	Shwoo [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:45 pm ]
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I feel like the only Harry Potter fan on the internet who doesn't care about this. So Dumbledore's gay. So what? It does make his relationship with Grindelwald more interesting, though.

Author:	Didymus [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 5:53 pm ]
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Quote: What was highly touted among biblical christians as "christian" Since when? I never hated the books or anything, but I never thought of them as "Christian" either. At least not in the same way as LWW. Certainly there are some common themes of death, resurrection, self-sacrifice, and redemption, but that in itself doesn't make it "Christian." What I'm wondering, though, is how this statement squares with the fundies who claimed the books were satanic. Quote: This sort of thing makes me think that some people really are stupid. Let's get real for a moment. The character in a book is an IT. IT does as the author allows IT to do. It has no life of ITs own, makes no decision and thinks only the author's thoughts. IT is not going to jump into my bed, molest me in the gents lavatory, ogle me, make lewd suggestions. IT can't. Moreover, in the case of the Harry Potter books, whether IT is gay or not is meaningless unless the matter is germane to the plot. I don't believe in this case it is. This makes perfect sense to me. He's a fictional character of a fictional place. Heck, wizards aren't even real (as far as we know)! So what difference does it make either way?

Author:	HHFOV [ Sun Oct 21, 2007 5:58 pm ]
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Yeah, the fanatical Christian audience never liked Harry Potter anyway, so I dunno what that fundie's on about with the biblical Christians saying it was Christian.