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"Did Dumbledore ever fell in love?"
"Well, I actually was always thinking about him as a gay"

This response from J.K.Rowling brought an outburst of laughter and standing ovation in Carnegie Hall last fall. Would I applaud her if I were there? Probably not. As much as I respect and admire her talent and courage, I don't think that this after-fact revelation is appropriate.

And my main reason is simple:
All important information that relates to the main heroes is supposed to be in the book itself. If Dumbledore being gay is so important, it had to be in the books. Of course, in the hindsight I can see a couple of hints (probably, some readers would say "I saw it coming"). But most people would agree with me that JKR never allowed this information to be explicit in the books, most likely since the biggest part of the targeted audience is kids - not even teenagers. Since the books have been published already, she shouldn't be revealing any critical information about what might have motivated the characters or shaped them. Dumbledore being gay is different in this respect that the fact of Neville eventually marrying Hannah Abbott or Hagrid never marrying.

Also, in my opinion, the love life of Dumbledore is mostly irrelevant to the main story of the book. True, we do understand him better now. And some people even like him better now. But initially all of us liked and respected Dumbledore for being wise, kind and powerful wizard brave and loyal, but human and as prone to mistakes as any of us. Did his love life (or lack of it) change this image? Not really, just added some nuances. Honestly, I've even read some fan theories about his "behind-the-pages" affair with Minerva. Would this make any difference? I say, hardly.

There is also an issue of young audience reaction to this development. And I mean, really young 7-10 year old kids, who chain-read the books and watch the movies non-stop. .I just tried to imagine my daughter's reaction, in case she gets this information on some web-site. And kids eventually get to know everything they are not supposed to. The best-case scenario would be, probably, something like that:
- "Mom, do you know that Dumbledore is gay?"
- "Yes..."
- "What does this mean?" (this is just to check the reaction , I guess)
- "well, gay men like men and not women..."
- "That's why he always gave candies to the boys?"
Seriously should I even bring up this subject?

Another point, although minor the sixth and seventh movies are still "in the pipes". With her revelation, JKR made it very difficult for Sir Michael Gambon (the actor currently playing Dumbledore). What should he do now? Ignore the development of the character and risk being booed by part of the audience? Play to a character a little bit and risk being booed by another part of the audience?

Anyway, the buzz surrounding this subject reminded me about the very old joke that was popular in Russia, about the famous Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (and it is well-know fact that he was a gay):

Question to the Russian radio:
"Is it true that Tchaikovsky was a gay?"
Answer from the radio station:
"It is, but we like him not only because of this."

This holds true in Dumbledore's case, as well.

Learn more about this author, Elena Yampolsky.
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