Should JKR shut up?

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 178328

Shelley
> Some have also asked that same question in a different form: What 
was she 
> supposed to do, lie about it? Um, not saying anything for the sake 
of 
> prudence or protecting the innocence of the children you are 
talking to 
> isn't the same as lying. She could have answered without lying or 
saying 
> it's a secret.

Magpie:
Protecting the innocence of children from what? She's got straight 
characters throughout the books being straight. Why would one 
need "protection" from knowing that Dumbledore is one more character 
who was motivated by romantic love or attraction at some point in 
the story? They can hear that Merope Gaunt was so attracted to Tom 
Riddle she gave him a love potion and then after he married her and 
got her pregant she stopped and he left her but they need to be 
protected from Dumbledore being attracted to Grindenwald but 
defeating him because he was evil? Seems to me the Merope story is a 
lot more sordid. There's all sorts of scenes in canon where we and 
Harry see people expressing physical attraction to people or being 
in love with people.

Shelley:
> 
> Someone asks me if I love my husband- I merely say yes, we've been 
married a 
> long time, and not describe in detail the wild sex we had last 
night. She 
> could have just said "yes, he had a lover in his youth", and left 
it at 
> that. Saying he was gay was going into details that were best left 
unsaid. 
> She could have also said "Yes, but that is a much deeper story 
that I might 
> go into in the future."

Magpie:
Wait--how are those details in any way the same? Rowling *did* give 
the answer you give about your husband. She said, "Yes, I think he 
was in love with Grindenwald." I don't see where there's any more 
details in her answer than your answer. You both agreed that you 
loved someone and said who it was. It's not more sexually explicit 
because Grindenwald is a man.

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.

Magpie:
I've never associated the term "homophobia" with mental illness--
despite the word phobia. I always took the point was that there was 
a fear of that sexual orientation and people that had it. And while 
it's probably not always accurate to say that, I can see why it 
would seem to describe what the experience felt like to a lot of gay 
people (who were literally called mentally ill as well). Even above, 
with words like "protect the innocence of children" sort of indicate 
there's a danger in hearing about a man attracted to another man 
that isn't there with a man being attracted to a woman. That said, 
the word was obviously made up to indicate this is a bad thing, yes. 
I guess the opposite would maybe be something like the use of the 
word "morals" or "values" to describe being anti-gay rights, which 
one could say is based on the concept that anybody who does not 
agree with one politically is being immoral or without values, 
rather than having different ones.

Bart:
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.

Magpie:
There is stuff in canon that is made more clear in knowing he was in 
love with Grindenwald. It's true there is no indication that he's 
gay--which is why nothing in canon is made more clear by it. We've 
got lots of scenes and moments that turn on straight attraction. 
There's nothing especially illuminating about Myrtle's attraction to 
various boys, or Hephzibah Smith's attraction to Tom Riddle, or 
Ron's towards Hermione or Teddy's to Victoire's. These are just part 
of things that JKR put in the story. If Dumbledore's love for 
Grindenwald had been included it would have made that clear in the 
same way. Just as any scene where a person of one gender was shown 
being romantically interested or physically attracted to or in a 
relationship with someone of the same gender would work just like 
any of the scenes with straight people do. 

The analogy was made to Dumbledore liking lemon drops and that JKR 
is saying that one's sexual orientation doesn't affect one's ability 
to do the right thing any more than liking lemon drops. Except she's 
only canonically showing that with lemon drops, since she left out 
Dumbledore's liking Grindenwald, so by default he reads as straight. 
And of course, nobody objects to being told Dumbledore likes lemon 
drops because it doesn't directly advance the plot.

-m