One reporter reacts to JKR's revelations

[sistermagpie]

> Del replies:

> The problem as I see it now, is that JKR did write all 
> the HP books, but she did NOT include any gay character. 
> In fact, she even described a WW in which only heterosexuality 
> seems to exist. That's what is in the books. And then 
> now, she turns around and says "oh, by the way, there's 
> a gay character in there". Well, I just don't see this 
> as fair to those who don't want to read books with 
> gay characters. Instead of being upfront and giving those 
> readers a choice, she made the choice for them. I mean, 
> this is what it all ends up looking like: "come, 
> come and read my books, there aren't any gay characters 
> in them... OK, you're finished reading? Well now let 
> me tell you: there IS a gay character. Aha, tricked you!"
> Of course, I'm not saying that this was her *intent*, 
> but I can understand why those readers are upset. 


Magpie:
But why would anyone think they had any actual right to read a book 
with gay characters in them? That's a bit of an irrational idea, 
isn't it? Nobody has a right to have warnings on the books about 
whether it has a certain kind of character. There's a lot of things 
in HP I wish I'd been warned about beforehand. Maybe I wouldn't have 
read them if I'd heard them. But I don't think she did anything 
strong by not warning about that. I mean, she didn't actually change 
the character in the book at all, so it's hard for me to think of 
somebody saying "But you made me read a gay character when I didn't 
want to--and I didn't realize it!" by thinking maybe it's the reader 
who ought to be rethinking their position. 


-m