[HPforGrownups] The problems with DD being gay

[wynnleaf fair]

No: HPFGUIDX 178220



delwynmarch wrote:                               I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned some of the real problems
 with the matter of DD having been in love with GG, and having
 "protected" GG for so long because of this love.
(huge snips)
 
 See, that's the problem I have with JKR revealing that DD is "gay":
 the canon doesn't support at all DD being gay (ie attracted to grown
 men), but it amply supports DD being ephebophile (ie attracted to
 teenage boys).
 
 Do I believe that DD was ephebophile? No. First because either I
 believe JKR who says "gay", or I believe what I see in the canon which
 says, well, nothing at all, and thus implicitely classic heterosexual.
 And second because it's just too yucky to see things that way, and
 frankly I don't want to be on Rita Skeeter's side on anything.
 
 But do I believe that the canon supports ephebophilia far more than
 homosexuality? You bet. Celibate ephebophilia (ie: I don't think DD
 ever sexually acted on it, at least once he became an adult), but
 ephebophilia nonetheless. And that stinks.
 
 And there's another thing that stinks. Look at what DD's love for GG
 made him do: it made him wait for decades before confronting evil,
 allowing countless innocents to be harmed and killed. How does this
 compare to DD's (and JKR's) message about Love and the Power of Love?
 DD keeps telling Harry that it's his ability to love which will
 eventually allow him to beat LV. But what did DD's ability to love do
 to him? It *prevented* him from fighting evil. DD had to set his love
 aside in order to be able to beat evil. How come the rules are so
 different in his case? Ah, yes: his was a gay love. Apparently,
 heterosexual love and motherly love fortify one against evil, but gay
 love weakens one. 
 
 All of you out there who are so happy about JKR making DD gay really
 should reconsider what it implies about DD and about gay love: it's
 not at all what you might think.
 
 wynnleaf
I think these are very legitimate points.  While I can understand many people appreciating JKR revealing that a major character in the books is (was) gay, it is *very* problematic that she revealed that *after* the final book in which Dumbledore is revealed as having so many, many deep weaknesses.    Suddenly her revelations can't help but be connected with his weaknesses.

And what if JKR had "outed" Dumbledore as gay from the first?  Wouldn't readers have voiced real concerns about this focus Dumbledore seemed to have on young men?  On his lack of adult partners?  

I've seen many fans comment on Slughorn's interest in attractive young men and have wondered if that was part of his initial interest in students like Tom Riddle.  Imagine if we'd know Dumbledore was gay all along.  How would we have seen his outspoken love of Harry at the end of OOTP, especially without any countering picture of Dumbledore having loved an adult?

Do I think JKR meant for Dumbledore to be primarily interested in young men?  No, probably she didn't.  But I agree that canon -- if it leans any direction for Dumbledore's sexuality -- leans more toward an interest in young men than anything.

wynnleaf



                               

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