OoP: Sirius as close as we're going to get to a gay character?

[Kirstini]

No: HPFGUIDX 65448

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> Laura says:  OOP, US Hardcover, p. 642
 
 - - - 
 He [Sirius] was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes 
 with a casual sort of elegance neither James's nor Harry's could 
ever have achieved, and a girl sitting behind him was eyeing him 
hopefully, though he didn't seem to have noticed.
 - - -
 
 Florence???  <evil grin>  
 
 Yes, that's right folks, you have so corrupted me that Florence was 
 the first thing that came to mind when I read that line.  Start 
 theorizing. =)
 
 -Laura>

Kirstini (me):
It's funny, but I read this passage as suggesting (ever so subtly) 
that Sirius wasn't really interested in girls. I remember reading 
Abigail's pre-OoP theory that Bill Weasley was going to turn out to 
be the first "out" character in the series - obviously Ms Delacour 
has scorched that one a bit - and I thought it was a really 
interesting theory, but unlikely to happen in the Pottersverse, 
where JKR likes to keep things fairly safe. It would be fantastic, 
but I wonder if Sirius, not noticing girls (ever, not just in the 
Pensieve) and unswervingly devoted to James, and therefore certainly 
with the *potential* to be read as an encrypted homosexual character 
(funny, I rather thought we'd left that sort of phrase behind in 
McCarthy-era cinema)is as close as we're going to get. There is, of 
course, the defence wheeled out again and again, "not in a 
children's book". Why on earth not? 
(We had this debate in Britain a couple of years ago concerning the 
repeal of Clause 28, which prohibited "the promotion of 
homosexuality as a lifestyle choice" [not exact words, as I haven't 
anything in front of me] in schools, basically meaning that gay 
teenagers couldn't seek advice from their guidance counsellors about 
their sexuality.)
Personally, I feel that the characters in the Pottersverse tend to 
stick to prevalent social hegemonies, Molly Weasley as 
housewife/domestic goddess being a prime example. However, as OoP is 
the first time that we learn of women having careers outside the 
traditional fields of teaching and the domestic sphere, Darrin's 
beloved Madame Rosemerta apart, perhaps there is potential for a 
broadening discussion of sexuality in the later books.
What does anyone else think?
Kirstini