[ SECRET POST #3212 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3212 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 027 secrets from Secret Submission Post #459.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I don't see why people give her some much flack for that. Considering Dumbledore is a single man, there are few opportunities for the narrative to "out" him without it being "btw Harry I'm gay", which would be very weird considering he's the headmaster of his school. Especially as Harry realises in Deathly Hallows how little he actually knows Dumbledore as a person.

[(Anonymous)]

I would agree (about all the teachers in fact) except that Dumbledore, like Snape, had visions of his past right there in the book.

[(Anonymous)]

But Dumbledore's love life has nothing to do with what we see of his past, if I remember correctly (feel free to correct me, it has been awhile) With Snape we only get to see how he's in love with Lily as that is crucial when it comes to his motives.

[(Anonymous)]

... You're kind of missing the point then. Were there other gay characters in HP, Dumbledore's sexuality not being mentioned wouldn't matter. But there weren't.

[(Anonymous)]

"Dumbledore is gay" =/= "Everyone who isn't Dumbledore is straight"

[(Anonymous)]

oh please, OUT or visible gay chracters then, pedantic ass

[(Anonymous)]

Not too many teenagers come out, especially in old-fashioned Victorian-era secretive cultures.

[(Anonymous)]

Grindelwald.

[(Anonymous)]

But wasn't that just Dumbledore having feelings towards him or was it an actual romantic relationship between them?

[(Anonymous)]

I meant that it would have been easy to discuss Dumbledore's orientation while discussing his past friendship with Grindelwald, thus making it actual canon instead of just word of god.

[(Anonymous)]

But we don't know if Dumbledore ever acted on any feelings he had towards Grindelwald. We don't even know if he ever told anyone. Being gay was illegal in muggle Britain back then, and considering that the magical world is far behind on a lot of things, it's not hard to imagine it being illegal there as well. So it's plausible that he just kept it to himself.

[(Anonymous)]

Why should it matter whether or not he acted on them? JKR has confirmed that he had unrequited feelings towards Grindelwald and his feelings played a large role in blinding him to Grindelwald's faults. It's a reach to say that, in a series where love and its effects (positive and negative) are a major theme, a major character's personal experiences with the destructive side of love were omitted simply because being gay maybe possibly could have been illegal in wizarding Britain.

[(Anonymous)]

It does matter as the story is not told from Dumbledore's perspective. If he didn't act on it nor told anyone, no one would know he had romantic feelings towards Grindelwald.

[(Anonymous)]

But she could have written him as telling someone... My point was/is that this was a huge missed opportunity for JKR.

[(Anonymous)]

nayrt

I can't really see a point where that would feel natural, but maybe I'm just being uncreative.

[(Anonymous)]

as opposed to all the 100% natural and believable references to straight characters' love lives that rowling shoehorned in

[(Anonymous)]

*eyeroll* Okay then

[(Anonymous)]

lmao...

[sarillia]

I don't really see how that makes a difference here. I'm still gay even if the girl I have a crush on doesn't like me back and that crush is still something I might mention occasionally.

[(Anonymous)]

If you were a teacher would you discuss it with your students?

Considering that the friendship was exposed in a tell-all book meant to shock, it can be assumed that Dumbledore never revealed his feelings, at least not in a way Bathilda Bagshot picked up on. Rita Skeeter would be all over that.

[sarillia]

I can go along with that argument, though I think there are ways it could have been done okay. I'm not saying that Dumbledore definitely should have said something in the book (though I refuse to look at him as an example of gay representation as things stand now). I just disagreed with that particular argument.

[tree_and_leaf]

I think Bagshot did pick up on it. The way the relationship (and Dumbledore's friendship with Doge) is written about in the biography pinged me as insinuating that Dumbledore was gay - it's very reminiscent of the way the British press used to write about semi-closeted celebrities when they wanted to hint but didn't have any evidence that would stand up in court (and regardless of whether or not homosexuality is acceptable in the wizarding world, you'd have to be pretty sure of your ground in alleging an affair with Grindelwald.

I wish JKR had made things a bit more explicit, but I did get a strong sense that we were supposed to read Dumbledore as gay, and I'm not someone who has strong slash goggles. Maybe it's partly a cultural/ generational thing as to whether you pick up on it or not.