Dumbledore Is Homosexual

[Acheron]

In a recent press interview JK Rowling was asked whether her character Dumbledore ever finds true love. She responded with "Dumbledore is gay". She went on to describe how he fell in love with Grindelwald. When confronted with his love being a dark wizard, he defeats him and claims the Elder Wand.

There had been a lot of speculation about this for a long time among the fans but Rowling has finally confirmed it. How do you think this affects Harry Potter Fandom? Does this information redefine the character Dumbledore in any way? Are you surprised?

[Angelus]

I read this earlier today and I didn't really have an opinion other than "represent!". But when I was talking to Uji about it, he said it was a way for her to sell more books, which makes sense, I guess. Though I don't really like fan service as a way to sell.

Still, I'm pretty indifferent about the whole thing. I don't think it'll help sell much more books, especially now, when most of the people already have copies of the final book, unless the news actually makes people want to buy more copies. o_O It makes me want to see if this'll be put into consideration at all for the movies though.
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[HarmonianHiccup]

Can we have a source on this, please?
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[Scott]

Well...This certainly presents(terrible) opportunities for fan fics.

I've....actually never bothered to read Potter, But I gotta agree with Uji. This seems for a publicity stunt than anything else. The Series is over and done, so she starts tossing out random information so fans will yell back and forth over both the Validity and Importance of it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071020/ap_on_en_ot/books_harry_potter_11 Source.
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[Ikano]

...I only think there may be more doujin and fanfics for Dumbledore created because of this...
....that's not to say without such news the doujin and fanfics wouldn't have come out eventually anyway.....
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[Elc]

Truthfully, I couldn't care less whether the Dumbledore character is homosexual or not, but even if the writer (Rowling, in this case) says after the fact, with absolutely no intention of ever writing more Harry Potter books, that x-character is gay because of this and that, which were never mentioned in the books (haven't completed Deathly Hallows yet, so if I'm mistaken please just ignore it) then it really isn't canon because there is no material to support it.

If it is a publicity stunt to increase sales, it could backfire as there will always be those zealots who will fall back on the "deviant behaviour" in order to boycott the series or whatnot. (don't you just love those types?) Then again, I guess it has had it's desired effect as we're talking about it now and I doubt there would have been anything brought up about it had Rowling said "Dumbledore's straight, though he's chosen to practice celibacy."

So, really... Dumbledore's sexual orientation doesn't change my opinion of the character or the books as all I really care about is being entertained.
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[Acheron]

While I respect th school of thought that "if it's not in the text, it's not canon", I must disagree with you Gregory. I feel that when the creator of the character says something about her character it can generally be taken to be completely true, especially if it is not contradicted in the book. That's one of the things about the Harry Potter books that's really interesting. With as much depth and as many characters and such a large universe, there is very, very few if any plot holes or contradictions.

I think that this wasn't as much a publicity stunt as it was an attempt reveal more about her character and satisfy fans. Yes, in some degree, it is a useful publicity stunt. I don't think it will bring in more sales in a significant way though so I don't think that's the driving inspiration for saying it. Him being gay only stresses an idea that is constantly harped upon in the book which is acceptance for all race, color and creed. Fantasized as it may be, there's no denying that Hermione helping the house elves out was clearly reminding kids to be civil minded and accepting of all kinds of people. The whole purebloods thing, too.

I agree with your closing remark, Gregory. Him being gay or strait changes my perception of Dumbledore as a character. I think it adds a bit of twist to his history though, most especially his interaction with Grindelwald.

[Earthquake923]

[Milan Fiori]

Not really sure why she chose now to announce it. It adds nothing to his character, nor does it take anything away. It just doesn't really do anything for the story, other than giving the book more controversy, and possibly opening it up to another group of consumers. Otherwise it's just "Oh. He's Gay? Pass the salt please."
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[Shrew]

And all the slash fans go wild.

While this may not affect much in the story, this is a huge thing for the Harry Potter universe and its place in society. You don't really see too many gay characters in children literature, and now there's suddenly one at the very top of it all.

It's pretty pansy that she brings it up afterwards. But I suppose a revelation like that would have swallowed up everything else about the book, so I guess she gets a break.
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[Ujitsuna]

I think it's just an attempt for more publicity, personally.

[HarmonianHiccup]

...and the slash fanfiction girls go wild. >_>

I have to agree that this seems only like another way she feels she can boost sales and make herself even more money.
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[Sophita]

I'm not reading most of the posts here since I haven't gotten the chance to read most of the seventh book yet, but....Is it just me or is this the worst Harry Potter plot twist not found on fanfiction.net?

I don't give two shakes of a rat's tail whether Dumbledore is gay or not, but the plot twist of him falling in love with Grendelwald pretty much belongs on fanfiction.net, or perhaps in the dictionary under the definition of cliche.

In short: Yawn.
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[Karushifa]

I just read an article about this not too long ago. IIRC, the reason it was even brought up was that someone at a Q & A session asked her (Rowling) whether Dumbledore would ever "find his true love", or something to that effect, to which she responded that he was gay. So, it wasn't just some random press release or blog posting wherein she revealed this. And she also said that the writers of the movie rendition of Half-Blood Prince were tossing around the idea of hinting at one of Albus' past romantic involvements (female), and Rowling ended up slipping them a little note of explanation.

So, in the context I read the news in, it seemed as if Rowling was just answering a fan's question and her answer happened to not be something a lot of people were expecting. In the same session, I think she also made mention of how much "interesting" fanfic that tidbit was going to produce, and that the people who already don't like her books (the fundie Christians) just got some more ammo. So at least she seems to have a realistic sense of the kind of fans (and non-fans) her books have, and can have a good sense of humor about it.
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[Thor McOdin]

Like Chun Li getting naked in the Street Fighter II anime, Dumbeldore being gay is integral to the Harry Potter series.
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