[HPforGrownups] Ron and Harry!! (And Sirius/ Sexy Mermaid)

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 7423

Suzanne Burns wrote:

> I would add that if kids are old enough to read romances about boy meets girl,
> then they are also old enough to read about girl meets girl or boy meets boy.
> Kids who are dealing with their brand new and budding gay and lesbian sexuality
> may in fact be LONGING to read fiction which affirms who they are. I can't think
> of many ways of writing about such things in ways that would be appropriate for
> very young audiences.

What about kids like me, who always skipped over the "slow" parts to get to the
exciting parts, what happens, who gets caught, who gets rescued and how, etc.? I had
no boyfriend, but plenty of boy friends, and girl friends (in fact, the only one I
have kept track of from this time is my best girl friend). I didn't date, nobody
asked, I don't know if I'd have gone; I never had a curfew, I never needed one.
Hormones were inconvenient things that made me have to deal with things like
feminine products. They didn't send me boy-ward until college. Were I 14, I would
not want the story cluttered up with romantic or sexual fluff; I'd want to know what
Voldemort was going to do next, why Dumbledore's eyes gleamed, etc.

I'm not anti-gay. I'm anti-distraction-for-the-sake-of-principle. If JKR chooses to
make awareness of feelings a plot distraction, then that *is* relevant and just fine
with me.

--Amanda