[HPforGrownups] JKR messed up

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 178323

mandorino222 wrote:
> series.   There are legions of people who are viscerally disturbed by
> homosexuality, and I'm afraid that homophobia is not going anywhere 
> fast. 

Bart:
You realize, of course, that the term "homophobia" is based on the 
left-wing concept that anybody who does not agree with them politically 
is mentally ill.

As far as Dumbledore being gay, well, I would have said something like, 
"What the characters do in between chapters is their own business." (not 
original; I THINK it was Dickens who first used it, but I'm too lazy to 
look it up). As has been pointed out, there is nothing in canon which is 
made more clear by Dumbledore being gay, and no indication that he is. 
Now, I would not be surprised if Professor Sprout and Minnie the Cat are 
doing something on the side. And if Flitty were gay, JKR would 
DEFINITELY be accused of stereotyping.

New York, for many years, had a mayor named Ed Koch. He pretty much 
wanted two things: one was to be mayor, and the other was to be governor 
(his overreaching for the latter ended up having him lose the former, as 
well). There is a widespread belief that he is a non-practicing gay man; 
as near as anybody can tell, he's completely chaste (which, by the way, 
is the correct term for not having sex; celibacy is not getting 
married). I can see Dumbledore as an Ed Koch type; he gets off so much 
on power and manipulation that, regardless of who he is attracted to, he 
doesn't really need sex.

Bart