Gay is damaged, straight is normal (was: Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships)

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" <jdr0918 at h...> wrote:
> 
> Third, if the prevailing opinion around here is that Harry has not 
> sustained the kind of psychological damage that would make him a 
> problematic father and husband, then I *am* sorry. But my feeling 
> is that since we know the story ends when Harry and the gang are 
> seventeen, we're going to be left with a Harry who, if he lives 
> (and maybe it will be simpler if he doesn't) will be happier 
> working through his angst with a therapy buddy with similar issues. 
> I say that's Draco (if *he* lives).

Harry can be gay and marry a man and adopt a passel of children and 
be one hell of  dysfunctional father and husband. One of our finest
young (and male and gay) fanfic authors writes Harry and Draco 
getting married and adopting two children and living happily ever
after (so that's his vote that they aren't *too* damaged). 

He can be straight without being a father or husband: celibate hermit
or commitment-phobic playboy. I suppose he could have a good friend
who was a therapy partner even if they two weren't sleeping together.
I think Neville's issues are more like Harry's issues than Draco's
issues are.

I'm wondering if you use the word 'gay' to refer to a person who is
sexually attracted to myriad persons of the opposite sex but falls
into love, life-long true love a la romance novels, accompanied by
sexual passion, with one-count'em-one person of the same sex? That
seems to be what happened to Harry in the fic I mentioned, and it did
happen to a woman friend of mine in real life.