by Carrie-Ann Campbell

Created on: July 20, 2008   Last Updated: March 06, 2010

I am clearly behind the times. I have only just read the announcement that Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter is gay, and to be frank, felt very left out of the loop, as I seem to have missed all the ferocious debates about whether or not the announcement was the best thing to do.

I think people are mainly fuelled in this debate by their views on gay people; some readers are particularly indignant that Rowling gave her character a sexuality in the first place, simply because they either did not see it as necessary, or they felt the subject of sexuality was too inflammatory for a children's book.

Personally, I am fairly neutral on the whole subject; Dumbledore is a character in a book after all - an extremely well-written and entertaining book, but a novel nonetheless.

However in this debate, I am going to vote... yes. Why?
Because quite simply, I think it fits. When I heard Albus Dumbledore was gay, I backtracked for a moment, but then felt a sense of "Aha!" Several things in my mind slotted into place.

Firstly, it answered the question as to whether Dumbledore had ever been in love. (The question I believe has fired off all this controversy to begin with?) It was something I had always wondered about, and I thought it strange that J.K Rowling, whom had always developed each and every one of her characters rather superbly, had missed out on such a vital feature, particularly in the final novel the Deathly Hallows, where a lot of time goes into developing Dumbledore's background.

The announcement that Dumbledore was smitten with Grindelwald completed his character- yes he WAS in love, and yes, I do believe that this fact was relevant. The terrible reluctance of the character to enter a duel with Grindelwald is explained, because that part of the novel never made sense to me either. Sure enough, the two characters were friends, but only for a very very short period of time; not enough time to secure a true, undying friendship; but just long enough to fuel an infatuation that would make Dumbledore so averse to duelling him - until "the pleas of the wizarding world", I think the book says.

Also the final underlying point - the book is J.K Rowling's. The character is hers, to develop as she will. The announcement that Dumbledore is gay has completed his character development, in literary terms, and made him not just a benign, omniscient Wonder Man; rather it made him human, made him mortal, with emotions besides that of a Headmaster, but as a person, as a youth.

On top of that, J.K Rowling knows better than anyone about her own characters. People who say she was trying to cash in on - what a fellow writer has termed - "the G word", take a look at her earnings! She is the richest woman in Britain, she has no need to cash in on anything, controversial issue or not.

What was she supposed to do, lie for the sake of political correctness?
And someone asked her whether or not Dumbledore had ever been in love. She told the truth.

And with all due respect to her readers, she should know.

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