Why did Rowling have to make Dumbledore gay? Please help me in my search to understand why!!!!!!?

Answer 1

Because it is a novel and novel things happen in a novel. Novel is a word that means a piece of fiction and something new.

Harry Potter became a hit because the series appealed to the children and it had relevance in the real world. Like it or not there are gay people out there and both you and Harry are going to have to live with them. Just because they are gay doesn't mean they are cursed, evil, going to hell or all those other things the homo-phobes say. It does mean that they are unusual and maybe even a bit strange, but then mages have always been an odd bunch.

Dumbledore may be gay, but he is also one of Harry's biggest supporters. I don't know about the last books; I only read the first 3, but in all those books he supported and respected Harry. He felt he owed him because of his friendship with his parents and he felt that Harry's parents were doing the right thing. He sees great things for Harry and knows that some day he will become a great wizard.

Remember how Cirrus Black seemed to be the cruel deranged maniac, until he turned out to be Harry's uncle and protector. J. K. Rowling makes her stories interesting because she puts in a twist and breaks new ground. Dumbeledore may be the first major character in mainstream fiction to be gay and it is about time we recognize that they are real people and a part of this world.

I am straight, but once I had a friend who turned out to be gay. He was strange, but that was part of who he was and it was part of what made him someone I wanted to be with. Yes, I have to admit I was glad when he told me that I wasn't his type; I couldn't handle a romantic relationship with him. But, I was still proud to call him my friend. My only regret is that I had to move and distance broke apart our friendship. I never liked the idea of him being attracted to men and when he found a lover I couldn't handle seeing them kiss. But, he was a great guy, a man who helped me a lot and a true friend. He was unusual, odd and a bit weird, but then so am I in my own ways. Being gay was part of the package and to accept him I had to accept the entire package. The same is true with Dumbledore. Being gay is part of what makes him who he is, you may not be comfortable with his sexual interest, but you have to accept that part of him if you like him.

I congratulate J.K. Rowling on creating a unique character and having the sheer audacity (balls) to make him gay. She finally shows that people come in all shapes, sizes and with different sexual orientations. Just because he is gay doesn't make him any less a powerful wizard or any less a man. It means he is a little odder than most, but that is part of what makes him an interesting person. If everyone was the same as everyone else we would all be bored to death with each other.

I grew up in the Deep South in the 1960s when prejudice was in the very air we breathed. I never liked black people until I actually met one. Once I ignored the fact that he had a much deeper tan than I did I found out he was a pretty nice guy. I found that there are just as many good and bad black people as there are white people. I have to admit that I still have some prejudice against blacks; it is something I have to fight each day. But, at least I am brave enough to admit that I am wrong and work to make myself better. Why can't you do the same?

By making Dumbledore gay Rowling has given you a chance to be more accepting, to put down a prejudice, and to grow. You can either take it or hate her for doing it. Either way you have to accept it. It is part of the series and no matter what you want you can't change that.

Why did J. K. Rowling make Dumbledore gay? To give you the chance to grow, to make the man interesting, and to make a statement that people are different and come in all different ways. Just because you may not like those differences doesn't mean that they aren't still good people, doing good work and trying to live their lives in the best way they know how. Dumbledore is a hero of the Harry Potter series and now he is a distinctly original one. You can't confuse him with Merlin or think he is just a generic character anymore. Accept that and grow. Learn that little lesson and learn that if we had less hate and more tolerance in the world then we would all be a whole lot happier.

I am glad that Dumbledore is gay, not because I want him to be gay or because I want anyone to be gay; but because it makes him unique, it gives him a deeper personality and it makes him a stronger character. If you can't accept that then that makes you a narrower person, with a shallower personality and the weakness of pre-judging people because you don't have a mind large enough to handle individuals and need to put everyone into their own slot.

Answer 2

No. She isn't searching for greater exposure. She isn't attempting to influence Christians. She become asked a question in an interview and easily replied it. In an interview, it reported that she wasn't predicted the reaction of followers. She suggested that Dumbledore is her character and that she would be in a position to do in spite of the fact that she needs with him and that there've been a great number of gay adult adult males who've been very useful in lifestyles. (not thoroughly specific:) She got here up with the assumption while writing the 0.5-Blood Prince and despatched a letter to the director putting forward that Dumbledore become gay.

Answer 3

A common theme throughout Harry Potter is tolerance and friendship among diverse groups. For instance, Hagrid's struggle with coming out as a half-giant and the subsequent acceptance of his friends demonstrate this. Then we get the ideology that wizards are superior to muggles, with the genocidal Voldemort and his followers demonstrating the idea of dangerous bigotry and racism.

For obvious reasons, Rowling could not have created an openly gay character/relationship. The world would have made this controversy the defining part of the novel. She left many doors open with Dumbledore (and arguably, other characters) without having to literally mention his homosexuality. Her portrayal of Dumbledore as gay follows with the ideas of tolerance and diversity in the rest of the novel.

Answer 4

She made Dumbledore gay for one reason and one reason only: Because she could.

She has apparently allowed her success to go to her head and has decided to push her own agenda to the millions of fans who made her a billionairess.

Shame on her! Fooled me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I will never buy anything written by her again nor will I see, rent or buy anymore of the HP movies.

And please stop fooling yourselves and consider this fact: If it were J. K. Rowlings' intention to have people be more tolerant of gay folks, if that were indeed her motive, then she would have made Dumbledore gay throughout the entire Harry Potter series, not as an afterthought.

Answer 5

Dear Molly,
Take a breath. Way too many !!!!!!!!!! in your question.
Many people disagree, but I think JK conceptualized Dumbledore as gay from the beginning. We know from previous interviews with her that she has extensive back stories on most of the minor characters, like Hannah Abbot and Dean Thomas, that she did not put into the story of Harry.
Why did she think of him as gay? That's just her vision of this character.
Hearing that he is gay does not change any of the noble actions or wise teachings we associate with Dumbledore. It is the same in real life. There are wonderful people, gay and straight, who help us learn.

Answer 6

I don't think that JKR has an agenda, or is seeking more publicity. According to the story I read, she had told the writer of the screenplay for HBP that Dumbledore was gay because there was mention of a female love interest in the screenplay and she had to set them right. Having done that, she might as well have made it public, since it would have eventually come out anyway--she could control when and how it was done. and in any case, this story came out because she was directly asked if Dumbledore loved anyone.

Throughout the series, we know Dumbledore as a tireless and seemingly single-minded fighter against Dark Wizards (at least from Harry's perspective; we do have to remember that Albus is also a great teacher, an alchemist, and important theoretical Wizard--remember the tools and instruments he made himself). But how did Albus become that way?

We learn much about this in DH, with Arianna's story, Aberforth's story and the story of the friendship between Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. In reading DH, it was clear that Grindelwald seduced Dumbledore on a number of levels; intellectually, ideologically, and, by JKR's new revelation, emotionally. We don't know if that seduction was sexual as well, and I'm not sure it is important for us to know.

The revelation completes the picture for us of a man who felt betrayed, injured by one he loved, ashamed at how far he went from rational thought and behavior, how far he really was from what he thought he was.

The up shot is that we now know more completely Dumbledore's motivations for fighting Dark Wizards--his shame at his own tangential contribution to Grindelwald's career, his reluctance to fight him, and, when Voldemort rose, his determination to not to repeat his prior mistake of inaction and to fight Voldemort from the start.

So in summery, It was part of the way JKR viewed Dumbledore and understood him. I don't think it was something that would have come out voluntarily--more likely something that would have made a scholarly article 50 or 60 years from now after she was gone and literary scholars had access to her full notes (assuming she left them to be investigated).

BTW, there is some inkling of this in DH, where Rita Skeeter talks about devoting a chapter in her book about Dumbledore to the Dumbledore/Harry relationship. This is not to say that there was anything improper--but that JKR did put out a hint.

wl

Answer 7

I think it's only fitting - Harry Potter books are all about understanding and acceptance. A lead character being gay only adds to the contemporary and real feel that the books have advocated. It is a much better way for kids to find out about sexuality than movies or MTV.

Answer 8

I guess because she wanted him to be gay. Though you think has she wanted to make a impact on gay intolerance she would have made Harry Gay. Seriously, how many stories out there have a hero who is homosexual?

Also why do people keep thinking that Albus killed Grindwald, he didn’t kill him. He was sent to Numengaurd prison after Albus defeated him. Lord Voldmort killed him in book 7 while he was searching for the Elder wand.

Answer 9

She didn't make him gay. If he's gay then he is gay. Yes. He is a fictional character but characters take on lives of their own. Besides, it doesn't affect you or the story at all whether he is gay or not. Rowling invented Dumbledore and she happened to invent him gay.

Answer 10

She didn't "have to make" him gay, she just did. She invented him, and when she did she knew he was gay.
For example, I'm a writer myself. In my most recent project, my character has a mohawk. I didn't decide to give him one to rebel against society! When I thought of that character ,I just saw him having a mohawk. honestly, writers just see their characters in their heads and write down what they see.
In her mind, she knew Dumbledore was gay. Why did she give him glasses? Because in her mind, he needed them. She knows way more about her characters than we do--we only know the info she chose to put in the books!