The Brady Bunch and Walt Disney are Gay.

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 78741

Ok, their not really gay, but I'm trying to make a point.

Independant of whether or not you believe these are children's books,
it is extremely unlikely that sex and sexuality in these books will
ever go beyond the scope of The Brady Bunch or your typical Disney
Channel Tweens show. 

Notice that in the last book, we really didn't even get to see the
Harry/Cho kiss. We see the lead up to the kiss, then it's 'fade to
black', and Harry is back at the Common Room where he recounts, in
very vague detail, the kiss.

We do how ever, see (actually read) about Roger Davies and his
girlfriend snogging pretty heavily in the tea shop, but it still
doesn't go beyond the type of kiss you might see on 'Lizzie McGuire',
'The Jersey', or 'Even Stevens' (or the Brady Bunch).

In the previous book (GoF) during the Yule Ball, outside in the
Garden, there is some implied snogging, but it doesn't go much beyond
impled.

So, I think I see a tread here. The odds of ever seeing/reading anyone
naked and sweaty in these books is ZERO. A polite kid's TV romantic
kiss is about as far as it will ever go.

And, unless we see Ron and Harry (or Harry and Draco) snogging in the
  tea shop, it is unlikely that we will every have a confirmation of
any main character being gay. I will concede that it might be possible
for some implied gay character to exist in the background. A character
whose 'gayness' is so incidental most people pass over it without
noticing (Grubbly-Plank).

If sex and sexuality are doomed (so to speak) to being so vague and
undefined in these books, how is it that we can generate enough
discussion to make an innocent 'gay-like' post drag on for days? 

I think the answer to this can be found in the nature of JKR's
writing, and in the universal nature of these books. JKR doesn't
really put obvious morals (as in 'the moral of the story is....') in
her stories; they aren't 'preachy', no long sermons beating us over
the head with what we are SUPPOSE to be getting out of the story. She
just lays the story out and lets the chip fall where they may.

In doing this, she creates universal themes, and it is these universal
themes we all identify with. She doesn't have to do much or say much
to make us like Harry or Ron; we just do because there is a universal
truth to them that we all recognise. They are flawed, and we are
flawed. They are basically good, and we are basically good. They are
oppressed and downtrodden, and we are oppressed and downtrodden. They
are misunderstood, we are misunderstood. 

JKR's writing is amazingly compact, even give a couple of books in the
 +800 page range. She covers sweeping amounts of story in just a few
pages; frequently in just a few paragraphs. Despite her compact
writing style, she is able to put enough into the story, to stimulate
out imaginations into filling in the blanks to create an unbelievably
vivid and detailed world.

I like to use the example of Ron's appearance. Here is all we know
about Ron; tall, pointed nose, big feet, and red hair. That's it, or
at least, that's all I know. Yet, I know Ron in extreme detail. I know
subtle speech patterns and characteristics. I know getures, movements,
facial expression, the tone of his voice that never has been nor needs
to be described in the book. I know Ron like I know my own brother; he
is a complete detailed person with quirks and subtle nuances.

How can we know this world so well? How can we all, being very
different from each other, know this world and it's themes of good and
evil so well? How can so few words touch us all so deeply? Because,
that world, the world that JKR creates, is every world. It is the
universal world. They understand this world and it themes just as well
in Japan as they do in Zimbabwe. Gay and straight and every one in
between see ourselves in this story; hear our own story being told,
see our own lives being portrayed because JKR has so spectacularly
captured the universal themes that make up every life. She is telling
every story ever told, and telling it so very very well.

So, how can people be so sure that there are gay undertones in this
story? Because that is their story, and in Harry Potter, they see
themselves.

She is telling every story that's ever been told; the universal story.

Just a thought.
bboy_mn