Fanfics, slash, etc. - final word

[Diana <dianasdolls@yahoo.com>]

Thank you, Meira, for your numerous responses to John's and other's 
replies.  Several of your responses are how I feel about the topics 
being discussed recently on this list and you've done a nice job of 
expressing those opinions clearly.  Thank you as well to the other 
posters who have made an honest effort to understand the meanings of 
my posts and then responded politely.  

To clear up all the misconceptions...if anyone cares at this point, 
that is... :)  

Here's my *personal* views of the Potterverse:

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Ginny, Draco, Neville and 
Hagrid are all heterosexual, meaning they are attracted to members 
of the opposite sex for purposes of physical and romantic 
attraction.  To me, all have been written as showing attraction to 
members of the opposite sex within the books themselves. 

As far as Remus Lupin and Sirius Black are concerned, I am 
interested in those characters so far beyond what sexual orientation 
they might be that I don't think about it at all.  If neither, both 
or one of them turned out to be gay in further JK Rowling Potter 
books, I wouldn't care one bit and I wouldn't like their characters 
any less because of it.  I like these characters irregardless of 
what sexual orientation they are.  In fact, thinking about sex 
and/or romance and these characters in any configuration and within 
any pairing with other characters disrupts my view of these 
characters because I do not think of them in sexual terms at all.  
For a precise comparison, I don't think of my aunts and uncles in 
sexual terms either.  Harry is the main character in the books and 
in my view of the Potterverse as well, so Lupin and Black are like 
uncles to me, too.  [Harry is my favorite character after all.]  :) 

The possible sexual orientation of every character not mentioned 
above does not really matter to me, and any one of these characters 
being gay or heterosexual is neither positive nor negative to me.  
If pressed to decide the sexual orientation of most, not all, 
supporting and minor characters [including the people we know 
absolutely nothing about, like those quoted in Filch's Kwikspell 
letter] I would probably think, offhandedly, of that character as 
being heterosexual. Because I am heterosexual myself I would most 
likely assign heterosexual orientation to a character without 
thinking about it.  Assigning fictional characters traits and 
preferences you're familiar with in your own everyday life is a part 
of being human.    

Do I believe every single character ever mentioned in the Harry 
Potter books, no matter how major or minor, from a Hogwarts spirit 
to one of the muggles who saw the flying Ford Anglia, is 
heterosexual?  No, I do not.  I don't think JK Rowling has revealed 
enough about many of these characters to let us glimpse those 
aspects of the characters' lives.  

I do not read Harry Potter based fanfics, that means zip, zilch, 
nada, zero, big-fat-goose-egg, etc.  Regardless of an HP fanfics 
sexual content, pairings, plot or quality of writing, I won't read 
it.  I choose not to because I do not want any undue influence upon 
my own personal Potterverse that would inevitably occur by immersing 
myself in another's personal Potterverse.  I may one day change my 
mind in the future and read all manner of fanfics, but for now I 
choose not to read any of them.

I do not value the Harry Potter books because I perceive them 
as 'free' of gay characters.  I do not perceive the books in terms 
of sexual orientation, either for or against the inclusion of gay 
characters, at all.  I value the Harry Potter books because the 
characters are enchanting, the writing's excellent, the plots are 
entertaining and Harry Potter himself is delightful.  The sexual 
orientation of any of the characters has absolutely nothing to do 
with my enjoyment of the books.  I wouldn't dislike the books if 
some of the characters were written [by JK Rowling] as gay, either 
now or in the future books.  I wouldn't love the books more if none 
of the characters were written [by JK Rowling] as gay, either now or 
in the future books.     

Here are the basic facts of what I personally view about the REAL 
WORLD:

I believe all people, regardless of sexual orientation, have the 
right to live their life they way they choose to live it as long as 
the way they live their life doesn't harm other people, whether 
physically or through oppressing that other person's right to live 
their own life.  In the US of A, each person is guaranteed the right 
to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by law.  I'm pretty 
sure that includes the right to read fictional characters anyway 
they choose.    

I believe that descrimination against others for their sexual 
orientation, skin color, gender or religious beliefs is wrong.  I 
believe that with true freedom comes the realization that that 
freedom means allowing others the right to hold opinions and beliefs 
that you may violently disagree with.  

My personal views of the Potterverse and the real world may not 
match or even remotely resemble your views, and I don't expect nor 
require them to match.  Your Potterverses and views of the real 
world are just as valid as mine.  

Finally, if people on this list choose to believe I am a homophobe 
merely because I choose not to read HP-based slash fanfics, then go 
right ahead.  If it makes you feel righteous to believe that, then 
you're welcome to your beliefs.  I can only state that you've 
misread me and leave it at that.  You have a right to dislike me if 
you want to and I support your right to do it.  How can I not when I 
believe I have a right to my own opinions as well?  I can not have 
one without the other.   

End my discussion of slash fanfic, homosexuality, etc.

Diana