Canon citation requested (was Re: The problems with DD being gay

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 178461

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, juli17 at ... wrote:
 
> Skipping the whole pedophile/teenageboyophile (whatever it's called)  bit
> --which I find completely nonsensical, as I see not a shred of evidence in 
> canon that  Dumbledore's leniency with certain students is anything other 
> than mere fondness of an adult for a child under his guidance--a lot of 
> posters are arguing that there was never any canon that supported 
> Dumbledore being gay. My question to those who protest based on this
> argument is...Please state the canon that supported Dumbledore being  
> straight.
  
> Seriously, I want to know. And I honestly don't consider "no  evidence that 
> he's gay must mean he's straight" a reasonable argument. Some percentage 
> of any population is gay (don't recall the actual number, maybe 10 percent?), 
> so *some* students or  teachers at Hogwarts can be presumed to be gay, 
> even though we don't see  direct evidence of the sexual orientation for 95% 
> of the students (nor for any of the  teachers except Lupin and Snape). So 
> what actual canon gives  us evidence of Dumbledore's sexual orientation?

Geoff:
My suspicion would be none.

Let me pose a thought. I am sure that all the posters on this group have 
many friends, family members, work colleagues, neighbours and meet folk 
on a day to day basis with whom they are at least acquainted. So -  how 
many of those folk do you know to be gay or bisexual – or straight for that 
matter? Not whose sexual orientation you suspect but which you know. Not 
all of them for certain. You don't start a conversation with "Good morning, 
Mr. Smith. Are you gay, straight or  bi?" It would make for an interesting 
world if we did. :-) 

Someone has suggested that Dumbledore was secretive about his feelings. 
How open are any of us about ours? You may have a suspicion (if that's the 
right word in this context) as to the sexual orientation of some of this 
eclectic group I've mentioned above but unless you know a person well – 
and they're prepared to open up, you cannot label them in any way. I 
remember having a close friend when I was in my teens who revealed to 
me that he was gay but only after knowing him for three or four years.  

It has been suggested that Dumbledore was an ephebophile, citing Tom 
Riddle and Sirius Black as evidence in addition to Gellert Grindelwald. But, 
based on canon evidence, Grindelwald and Dumbledore were close 
contemporaries when they met so it cannot be assumed that Dumbledore 
was specifically interested sexually in boys of that age. Any teacher has 
dealings over a long period with pupils who are not of adult age. Whatever 
their sexual preference, I would assume that they (a) realise and accept 
their responsibilities to the safety of those under their care and (b) don't 
feel attracted to every person within that age group with whom they come 
in contact. If that is not true, then we *are* possibly dealing with paedophiles 
or ephebophiles who, by the way, do not have to be gay,

As far as I am concerned. I am not worried about Dumbledore's orientation. 
After the incidents with Grindelwald and the mistakes of his earlier years – 
and also seeing him as being guilty of manipulation with certain individuals, 
I still believe that, for the greater part of the time, he was perceiving that he 
had a duty of care for the minors with whom he dealt. How he dealt with 
adults he had feelings for is, as I have remarked before, like Harry and 
bathrooms and toilets, not relevant to the story.