Harry's sexual preference; supporting opinions

[Richard]

No: HPFGUIDX 78816

evangelina wrote, in part:

Personally I don't think Ginny dating Michael Corner does much for 
the storyline (yes I know he probably went to the Hog's Head because 
Ginny was his girlfriend, but he could just as well have been a 
friend of hers), but we find out anyway. So why not a similar 
mentioning of a gay relationship?


To which I say:

There is a very simple and believable explanation for why we are told 
that Ginny is dating Michael Corner.  Ginny was too self-conscious to 
speak in front of Harry, then suddenly she is entirely confident, and 
willing not only to talk in front of him but to him, and to chide him 
for not remembering that she is the only person who can tell him what 
it is like to be possessed by LV/Tom Riddle.  If we did not know that 
she was no-longer so stuck on Harry, having discovered that there are 
more approachable boys available, this shift in her behavior would be 
a little jarring for some, who would see it as inexplicable, and even 
as a Flint.  So, even though most of us would see it as her growing a 
bit, JKR may have thought of this a problem, and so told us about her 
dating life.

It should also be remembered that as Harry is now virtually a Weasley 
(Molly's Woes shows her seeing Harry's dead body) the members of that 
family have to be developed, and thus Ginny cannot remain merely some 
infatuated pre-pubescent who can't get over her personal awe for him.

Redgarding a putative gay relationship, I won't be surprised if there 
is mention of one, but it would need to advance the story line.  That 
isn't necessarily easily done.  Even if it were to be done to restate 
a major theme (tolerance, cooperation, understanding, etc.), it would 
need to be tied into the story line, else it become gratuitous.

There is also a simple marketing reason for not showing a gay couple. 
Even if we are tolerant of such an idea, that doesn't mean that every 
reader, or parent of a young reader, all over the World will be.  The 
fact remains that there are significant percentages of the readership 
(and their parents) who are very intolerant of homosexuality.

This marketing reason isn't just a matter of greed, though.  There is 
a real benefit in having a series like this read by as many kids as a 
publisher can reach.  It teaches tolerance, but it does so in part by 
constructing prejudices that are not real (pure-blood vs. all impure, 
dirt blood lines, etc.), and bring a very real controversy would tend 
to reduce the readership, and reduce the dissemination of the lessons 
being taught.  I can easily believe JKR would decide NOT to include a 
gay relationship, choosing instead to let the synthetic prejudices of 
the series teach the lesson intended.

But that's just my opinion ...


Richard