At left: Well he is a snazzy dresser, but I'd have expected a better haircut.

So, gay Dumbledore.

(note: there’s at least one serious Book 7 spoiler below – do I still have to warn about that several months on?)

On the one hand, I’m glad to hear it. I think Jo Rowling has written the books from a moral viewpoint which is pretty similar to mine, so I’m not particularly surprised. And I do remember thinking while reading Book 7 that some slashers were really gonna go to town with Dumbledore/Grindelwald.

I do wish Jo could have made it just a little more apparent in the books. I see that it wasn’t a central point and plenty of details of how she envisioned the world of Harry Potter didn’t get included in the books. Also, given that most of all the books were from Harry’s pov, it might not have been too easy to fit in information about Dumbledore’s sexuality.

But we do know a bit about Lupin’s romantic life with Tonks, and Bill with Fleur, (or for an example that didn’t end in marriage, the torch that Snape carried for Lily) so it’s not impossible to include glimpses into moments of these straight relationships among the adults. And all the stuff about the kids starting to date was a missed opportunity. I would have loved for one of Harry’s Griffindor roommates to be gay and have that not be a big deal – Seamus or Dean, I think, since there was already so much going on with Ron and Neville. Neville in particular could have ended up very cliché, and would have defeated the purpose; all of his fumbling would have been re-envisioned as fey or something I expect.

Declaring that Dumbledore is gay is a small step in the right direction, I guess. Making a beloved authority figure gay can only be good, especially a beloved educator who clearly cared a great deal for his students. That might be the most important effect, in my opinion, and might really help cut off at the knees for a generation of kids the myth that all gay men are a threat to molest young boys.

I just wish it could really qualify as cannon. Is it still slash fanfic if it comes from the original author?

Now I'm off to see if I can find some slashy quotes from the last book. :)