I 'heard' JK Rowlings said something about Dumbledore being gay?

Question

I have not been able to find any thing to prove she actually said it. Is it just a rumor she said that, or does anyone out there know of a place to validate that the really did say that? Not that it really matters one way or the other, just curious. Pretty stupid to feel it necessary to point that out, if she did. What does it have to do with anything? It doesn't come into play anywhere in the book - and definitely not obvious in the book either.

Answer 1

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 2

Go to mugglenet.com.
That's where I found out.

At first I didn't take it well because I was mad that she didn't put it in the story, but now I think it kind of makes sense.
When you really think about it, Dumbledore was actually pretty gayish.

Answer 3

Yes, she did say that. She has backstories on her characters, so these things would have come out in the encyclopedia in any case.

Answer 4

i read an article on Yahoo about her saying that in a public reading of the Deathly Hallows