J.K. Rowling has made it official and has outed Albus Dumbledore at a recent event in New York. Many people are shocked by this, for a variety of reasons. I am one. I didn’t see any of the supposed subtle hints that others have mentioned. Mabe I’m just really slow on the uptake. Or maybe I just wasn’t looking for that and don’t really care.
You see, what does it really matter? Does Dumbldore’s sexuality have any kind of repercussions in the Harry Potter series? Not really. The man Dumbledore was in love with was his good friend Gellert Grindewald, and while that blind love affected Dumbledore’s actions as a young adult, I don’t see it as a big deal about his sexuality. It’s not like you see Dumbledore hitting on any of the male professors or his former students or anything. It seems like there are many people who are afraid that being homosexual means hitting on young boys or being completely driven by sex. No, my friends, that would be pedophiles and sexaholics.
So, ultimately, Dumbledore is gay, it’s going to affect more crazy religious people to try banning the books, but to me it just doesn’t matter. Personally I look at the character of a man, not his sexuality. It has nothing to do with me. Dumbledore’s character is definitely something to emulate.
Chocolate Phoenix 
I agree. I never wondered about his sexuality once while reading the series. It never occurred to me to do so. Like I said in my own blog, what’s one more thing as far as all the people who think the books are evil. I wish people would focus on the good stuff instead of finding things to hate. Enjoyed your post!
Seriously?!! I am out of the loop. I like your comment…”…that would be pedophiles and sexaholics.” CLASSIC…I may need to quote you!!! BTW how are you doing?
K.
I actually think it’s a good representation to have a wholesome and generally GOOD character in modern pop literature to be gay. With politics the way they are, so many people are anti-gay, and if this can get just a handful of people to rethink their outlook on others it is definitely worth it.
Like you, I never picked up on any subtle hints or anything. I really didn’t think about Dumbledore’s sexuality at all. When my kids read the books, as I’m sure they will someday, I’m not going to talk about it as it has no relevence to the story. The thing that saddens me is that it had to be brought up at all. Was there a point to saying the character is gay?
The initial revelation came when the movie script under development invented and made reference to an old girlfriend for Dumbledore. JKR nixed that idea and revealed the history surrounding the true relationship of Dumbledore and his arch-nemesis Grindelwald.
It has HUGE relevance to the story. If Dumbledore was in love with Grindelwald, it gives an entirely new dimension to the history revealed in the last book. What saddens ME is that she didn’t reveal it earlier so that we could understand another of Dumbledore’s blind spots. Adding this to canon opens up whole new ways of reading character. If Dumbledore was gay, what if his treatment of Snape was secretly motivated by love? (Man, how could this NOT have relevance?)
I’m with Lura. Why did it have to come up at all? I’ve never even thought about his sexuality…or anyone else’s for that matter. I just don’t think that it’s that important to the whole purpose of the story. Maybe I’m just not a ‘deep thinker,’ but that’s ok…I don’t have time to think! 😀
She only told because a girl asked if Dumbledore ever found true love.