What about Dumbledore!?

Question

I cant believe he is gay - not that it matters but I just never suspected - did you?

Answer 1

I suspected it a little, but I think it was just something JK pulled out of her butt to be honest, you can find anything if you look for it

Answer 2

LOL! I can't help laughing at some of the answers here. Especially the ones that start with "I've nothing against gays" or "I don't mind gays but..." Really, if you don't have anything against gays why No.1 - Do you care that Dumbledore is gay and No.2 - Why do you have to say it?
I honestly think it was either the movie thing that someone mentioned or a PR stunt. I dont' see any reason why she should only mention it after the series' is finished. Unless she was scared that the sales would drop if Dumbledore was too overtly gay. Hmm... wonder why she really came out with it now and not before.
With hindsight, I think the little clues were there. I wasn't surprised to hear it.

Answer 3

According to JKR, she put clues throughout the books to indicated that Dumbledore was gay.

But the only way to get these clues was to read between the lines.

So in reading between the lines, we can conclude this:

That not only was Dumbledore gay, but he was also a pedophile, as pointed out by Rita Skeeter perception that his affections toward Harry was sinister and inappropriate.

That not only did he "love" Grindelwald, but he also was deeply and secretly in love with Snape. Or how else could you explain his trust for such a vile man? Isn't it obvious that Dumbledore was into the bad boys?

That his brother, Alberforth, was into bestiality with his goats as was Hagrid (he loved his magical creatures) and Mr. Filch (he loved his cat, Mrs. Norris).

Crabbe and Goyle were also gay. No girl at Hogwarts wanted them, so they fell into each other's arms. Read between the lines, you'll get this!

McGonagall, Snape, the nurse, the Herbology teacher and all the other Hogwarts teachers who didn't marry was either gay or lesbian.

Bellatrix cheated on her husband and became Voldemort's lover. That explains his reaction when Molly killed her.

Fortunately, many of the HP millions of fans missed all of these new and exciting clues that JKR had written in her books. But thanks to her, we got them now!

Answer 4

The relationship with Grindlewald did seem very intense, and there was never any mention of a female interest in his life, so the clues are there, but I think JKR has done an excellent thing in working a gay figure into a children's book without there being anything sexually explicit for people to complain about, and avoiding limp-wristed, mincing stereotypes, and making that character positive and inspirational.
His sexuality had no real relevance to the storyline, but most authors like to flesh out a back-history for their characters, so I think that is what JKR was up to.

Answer 5

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 6

It was kind of a shocker, but it explains a few things about his past friendship with Grindelwald. Such as ...

In the books Dumbledore is a strong advocate for living peacefully with Muggles, not disrespecting them, not saying that wizards and witches are superior to Muggles just because they have magic and Muggles don't. So why did he get on this "wizards should rule" kick with Grindelwald? Youthful foolishness doesn't quite explain it. On the other hand, if he was in love with Grindelwald as JKR said, that explains why Dumbledore not only went along with Grindelwald's teachings but also actually embraced them - "I love this guy so anything he says is fine" was probably about how his thinking was running.

Similarly, when Voldemort returned to power, Dumbledore knew (and said) that the ultimate solution was that Voldy had to be killed. So why did he only **defeat** Grindelwald in 1945, when it would have been easier to kill him outright and no one would have had a problem with it? Again, if he had feelings for Grindelwald in the past, they might have still been affecting his thinking in that he couldn't bring himself to kill someone he cared about very deeply. (This is similar to how in Star Wars Obi-Wan didn't kill Anakin/Vader after their duel, but obviously not quite the same thing because Obi-Wan didn't have **that** sort of feeling for Anakin.)

Answer 7

I never really gave it much thought. None of the teachers appeared to be married & Dumbledore was the most dedicated teacher possible.

I do however think Charlie Weasley might be too.

Answer 8

I find it sad that she chose to divulge this information now that the series has for the most part been brought to a close.

Either she was fearful of fiscal ramifications in the form of lower book sales for "outing" him while the series was still being written, or she just pulled the information out of her butt, like another answerer said to stir up interest now that there's not another book coming out. (Big risk taker there - NOT)

Either is pretty sad, and even sadder are all the comments I'm reading about how "wonderful" it is for the gay community. What's so wonderful? That you can become a revered and loved character as long as you stay in the closet?

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't see where it did ANYTHING but take up news space. With fictitious characters, after the books are done, you can go back and ascribe anything to them, as long as it's not contradictory to what was written.

Answer 9

DAH!!! come on marriage was never mentioned in Dumbledore's case, but back packing around the world with Elphias Doge was??????? LOL LOL LOL, so what? As its politically correct now to include gay characters, Dumbledore was the obvious choice.

Answer 10

I didn't suspect it, but then again, I always tried to see Dumbledore as a wise figure who could counsel and give help without bias of sexual orientation.

Answer 11

I never expected it either. I love the Harry Potter books and it shocked me. I don't have a problem with gay people, but I didnt see any signs. Part of me wonders if JK Rowling just decided to say it just to get people thinking about HP again since the last book came out people arent thinking as much about it because there arent anymore books. That way people would reread the books and watch the movies to see if they could see any signs of him being gay.

IDK if I made any sense