[HPFGU-Movie] Re: Who is queer?

[Charlotte Roberts]

You've got all valid points about the stereotypes.  I've met gays who don't 
seem like the stereotype.  I also don't see how a character could "read" gay 
unless the author specifically mentions their sexuality in the text.

And yet, when JKR made the public announcement that DD is gay and it was 
printed in the papers, I showed the article to my mom, and she said "Yeah, I 
thought that Dumbledore was gay."  Geez, she sensed it from reading the 
books!!  lol.  That's how strong her gaydar is though!  I was dazed that it 
was possible to think that just from a book!  I also read in Entertainment 
Weekly, in which it declared JKR as Entertainer of the year, that 80% of 
Potter readers didn't know DD was gay.  Well, I guess it's common sense that 
the remaining 20% probably suspected somewhat that DD would be gay, but 
JKR's narration was so tongue in cheek that I just thought DD and 
Grindlewald were best friends.  I'm not sure if I'd have any other ideas 
about any of the other characters.  I have to agree with Missy that it 
doesn't matter if people act the gay or straight stereotype... I'd need a 
specific mention.

Charlotte


>From: Missy Gallant <missygallant2000 at yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com
>To: HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [HPFGU-Movie] Re: Who is queer?
>Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:01:04 -0700 (PDT)
>
>To me, it's even more basic. There are people who enjoy the same sex, and 
>there are people who don't.
>
>Each of those categories contains a VERY vast array of personalities. 
>There are perfectly straight men who wave their hands, enjoy fashion, 
>whatever. And there are gay people who are also sterotypically straight. 
>So- I don't read any of them as anything until given something to make it 
>so. OH- Ron kissed Lav-Lav- he's straight. McGonigall has no history that 
>I know of. She could be anything at all. None of the professors seem to 
>be married, but that doesn't make them gay or straight- just not 
>cohabitating with anyone.
>
>The basic question is what difference does it make? I realize that there 
>are a lot of gays who want notice, want rights, etc, and having themselves 
>depicted in literature is a triumph in their minds. But why? The people 
>who ban these books because of magic are certainly going to never open 
>their minds enough to accept gays also. To me, none of the character 
>"read" gay because there is no such thing. I REFUSE to stereotype gays, I 
>know far too many of them to be presumptious enough to say, "They're all 
>like_____." And since there is no sentence within any of the books that 
>says, "So and So dated the same sex" or anything remotely like that, then I 
>don't see gay there.
>
>I'm sorry if that offends, but that is my viewpoint.
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>--- On Fri, 8/22/08, Kimberly <ekrdg at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>From: Kimberly <ekrdg at verizon.net>
>Subject: Re: [HPFGU-Movie] Re: Who is queer?
>To: HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com
>Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 9:55 PM
>
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>That is a good question, I don't really know how Dumbledore would "read 
>gay". To me, that is what makes a subtle inference, subtle. It is exactly 
>what I was trying to say....not necessarily about me thinking about a 
>character being gay. I was more referring to the idea that what makes a 
>book personal to an individual reader is the things we read in between the 
>lines, not what is stated by an author. You referred physical descriptions, 
>I'm referring to the things a reader "reads" into a character/scene for 
>whatever reason. It's what makes the books personal to the reader. The 
>subject at hand just happened to be a characters sexuality. If we were 
>talking about Ron's organizational skills I would have used that as an 
>example. Kwim ?
>
>Kimberly
>
>What is a gay character? The idea that someone would come across "gay" in a
>book makes no sense to me. What, should he speak with a lisp, stand with
>hand on hip, hold his wrist limply? Dumbledore is an old man and the story
>does not focus on him, it focuses on Harry.
>
>When I read "The Deathly Hallows" I remember thinking during the parts 
>about
>Dumbledore and Grindelwald that she was making it out more like they were
>lovers than friends. I even said so to my wife when I read it, needless to
>say I was a bit full of myself when I learned the undertones there were
>purposeful.
>
>What I want to know is, how would Dumbledore read gay? Why do we assume 
>that
>aside from their choice of partners there would be anything different about
>a gay person? Gandalf was portrayed by a gay actor, my favorite author,
>Clive Barker is gay and when I listen to the commentary on "Hellraiser" I
>don't "hear" a gay man.
>
>I certainly didn't think Portia DeRosi (is that spelled right?) was a
>lesbian until she was with Ellen.
>
>So what reads as gay?
>
>md
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