Dumbledore Gay?

Oh my God, Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. If Christian groups have alleged the Harry Potter books promoted witchcraft (remember this is the same group that doesn't like Halloween) news about Dumbledore, will give them one more reason to put a nail in the coffin. Would Richard St. John Harris or (after he died of Hodgkin's disease) Michael Gambon have played this character if they had known he was gay? Would they have played the character any differently? What about all the Christian Right families that purchased the books and gave them to their children to read? Will the American Civil Liberties Union join forces with the Christian Right to start a class action lawsuit on behalf of the duped families? Will the children who read the entire series exhibit latent homosexual tendencies as a result of this exposure? As the old time radio announcer of another generation used to say, "Stay tuned to this station for further developments."

The Harry Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold over 325 million books. The last four books have been consecutively the fastest-selling books in history. The 2007 Sunday Times Rich List estimated J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, as the 136th richest person and the thirteenth richest woman in Britain. In 2006, Forbes named Rowling the second-richest female entertainer in the world and ranked her as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007. Rowling has parlayed Harry Potter into a global brand worth an estimated $15 billion. She has also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning the book for the computer and the television.

Rowling explained that Dumbledore was infatuated with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."

Is nothing sacred? Have you no shame Ms. Rowling? Did you have to spill the beans?

K.