the gay question (longish)

[Flying Ford Anglia]

No: HPFGUIDX 3946

I said:

<<Those of us who want to can draw our own conclusions on the sexual 
orientation of some characters, without the need for tokenism  (hey, 
another -ism!).>>

Susan replied:

<But what if she put two or three in -- or plans to? That would not 
necessarily be tokenism.>

[Although I'm responding to Susan's points, I've expanded on this 
topic a bit, with apologies to those who've already discussed it to 
death].

Bearing in mind the number of younger readers these books have, is it 
feasible that JKR will write in several gay characters? Like it or 
not, the introduction of a gay character would detract from the story 
(unless you think JKR might be planning to out Harry in book 7, or 
reveal that Dumbledore and Snape are longtime boyfriends).  Not only 
would the author be treading on eggshells as she tried to deal with a 
very sensitive topic, but also every hack journalist and `family 
values' crusader would be on her case.  Of course, this is not a 
*good* reason not to do it, but it is a likely reason she won't
do it.

We've commented before on the fact that very few of the Hogwarts 
teachers seem to be married, and that doesn't stop us imagining 
Flitwick, Sprout or McGonagall are gay any more than it stops us 
imagining that they are married or paired off.  

A stunned Susan wrote:

<You know, folks, I'm stunned. There are endless questions about
who is involved with whom, heterosexual wise, and endless speculation,
but if we ask one single question about a lesbian or gay character, 
then we are telling her what to do, or insisting that there be one...?
>

I think the gay question is a sensitive one, that's all.  On a more 
general point, I think we should avoid all questions along the lines 
of "why haven't you done this yet?" (another example:
"Will Harry ever get it on with Hermione?").  

There is a lot of speculation about romance pairings and most of it 
is heterosexual, I agree.  With the exception of slash fic 
discussions (we had one last Sunday in the chat room), there
isn't much talk of Harry/Ron, Harry/Draco, Fred/Hagrid, or
whatever, 
I guess because it is perceived as being unlikely that JKR will write 
that.  

Question: Can we expect JKR to create the ideal, egalitarian world we 
*don't* have in a series of fictional stories about a school for 
witches and wizards, centred on a boy who is barely into his teens 
(and seen from his POV)?  No, we can't (IMO).  These are works of 
fiction; the product of imagination.  Perhaps she will cover gay 
issues as part of the development of Hermione's social
conscience; perhaps she will make the next three books much more 
adult in content and bear the brunt of criticism.  More likely, I 
think, she won't.

Neil