So say gay rights group Stonewall, after JK Rowling opens Professor Dumbledore’s closet and outs him as gay.

You do just have the wonder whether Stonewall actually thought that sentence through. After all, the Harry Potter books in which Dumbledore features is fiction. That means it is not real. I just get the feeling that they pulled out a stock press release and just added the profession in, and then neglected to read it through.

In the same article, Peter Tatchell is quoted as saying

It is a children’s book, and one in which sexuality is hardly fully explored. The nearest any of the characters get to sex is a few kisses. I hardly think that the sort of “explicit” addressing of Dumbledore’s sexuality that Tatchell wanted would have added anything to the series or, indeed, been particularly appropriate. To do this would have added an entirely unnecessary dimension to the books.

I can’t see that it really makes any difference that Rowling has outed Dumbledore as gay. It doesn’t change the story at all, or make the slightest bit of difference to the context. So why all the fuss?

via John Moorcraft
Source: BBC