Harry Potter and the Gay Headmaster

For a gay sci-fi nerd the fact that I didn’t hear about J.K. Rowling’s announcement that one of her most adored characters is “family” for 3 days is ludicrous. Harry’s hero, the most respected man in the wizarding world has ever known, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot…was a homo. I love the little boy wizard and his funny little stories.

Not quite a bear despite the beard but I still can’t quite tell if he’s butch or femme…

In a revelation that is as touching as it is tragic, it turns out that the brilliant but evil Gellert Grindelwald was Dumbledore’s one true love and equal. Dumbledore was too brilliant for any circuit boy wizard equivalent but when he found someone as smart and ambitious as he the lover was won over far more by the power of the dark side than by Dumbledore’s imperfect but vast and wise love. Thus, he had to defeat the only man that could come close to matching him, the only man he loved. Oh my how horrible and romantic.

Rowling has vowed to do no more on the 3 main Potter characters but if she hasn’t completely ruled out more stories from the world of Harry Potter I’d sure love to hear more about Dumbledore and some of his adventures. Maybe there weren’t any other loves of his life but you know a guy that smart and talented had to pick up a few gentlemen wizards here and there. Maybe we can get some adult fiction chronicling the life of a young Albus?

Rowling has also always been a Christian. She has included key Biblical imagery throughout the Potter series. Even so many fundamentalists have decried her books as demonic and heretical. She says this latest revelation is sure to give her religious critics more fuel. (As Rowling herself said it’s also sure to rile up some more extreme fan fiction) But I am so glad that a self-identified Christian can make a character in a children’s/young adult series gay. Now if only she had had courage enough to out him in the canon itself. Oh well, he’s out of the closet now…

Happy National Coming Out Day Albus!