Seven clues that Dumbledore was gay
Interesting article in the LA Times today citing seven signs that should have alerted us that Dumbledore was gay. Here we go:
1. His pet. “Fawkes, the many-colored phoenix, is ‘flaming.’”
2. His name. “While the anagram to ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’ is ‘I am Lord Voldemort,’ as my good friend pointed out, ‘Albus Dumbledore’ becomes ‘Male bods rule, bud!’”
3. His fashion sense. “Whether it’s his ‘purple cloak and high-heeled boots,’ a ‘flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet,’ a flowered bonnet at Christmas or his fascination with knitting patterns, Dumbledore defies the fashion standards of normative masculinity and, of course, this gives him a flair like no other. It’s no wonder that even the uppity portrait of former headmaster Phineas Nigellus announced, ‘You cannot deny he’s got style.’”
4. His sensitivity. “Leaders like Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour and Dolores Umbridge (yes, even a woman) who are limited by the standards of normative masculinity could not fully embrace where Voldemort was weakest: in his capacity to love. Dumbledore understood that it’s tougher to be vulnerable, to express one’s feelings, and that one’s undying love for friends and for life itself is a more powerful weapon than fear. Even his most selfish moments in pursuing the Deathly Hallows were motivated either by his feelings for Grindelwald or his wish to apologize to his late sister.”
5. His openness. “After she outed Dumbledore, Rowling said that she viewed the whole series as a prolonged treatise on tolerance. Dumbledore is the personification of this. Like the LGBT community that has time and again used its own oppression to fight for the equality of others, Dumbledore was a champion for the rights of werewolves, giants, house elves, muggle-borns, centaurs, merpeople — even alternative marriage. When it came time to decide whether the marriage between Lupin the werewolf and Tonks the full-blooded witch could be considered natural, Professor Minerva McGonagall said, ‘Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world.’”
6. His historical parallel. “If Dumbledore were like any one in history, it would have to be Leonardo DaVinci. They both were considered eccentric geniuses (’He’s a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes’); both added a great deal to our body of knowledge (after all, Dumbledore did discover the 12 uses of dragon’s blood!); both were solitary, both were considered warm, loving and incredibly calm; both dwelt in mysterious mystical realms; both spent a lot of time with their journals (Leonardo wrote his backwards while Dumbledore was constantly diving into his pensieve); both even had long hair! And, of course, a popular thought among many scholars is that the maestro Leonardo was gay.”
7. The fact that so few of us realized he was gay. “No matter how many ‘clues’ I can put down that Dumbledore was gay, no matter how many millions of people have read these books again and again, Rowling surprised even the most die-hard fans with the announcement that Dumbledore was gay. And in the end, the fact that we never would have guessed is what makes Dumbledore being gay so real. So many times I have encountered friends who are gay that I never would have predicted. It has shown me that one’s sexual orientation is not some obvious ‘lifestyle choice,’ it’s a precious facet of our multi-faceted personalities. And in the end whatever the differences between our personalities are, it is time that our world heeds Dumbledore’s advice: ‘Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.’ Today as I write this, I believe that it’s time for our aims to be loyal to what the greatest wizard in the world would have wanted them to be: love.”
You can read the entire article here.
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5 opinions for Seven clues that Dumbledore was gay
TRMite
Oct 25, 2007 at 19:01
awesome. everything here is dead on! thanks for sharing this! I’m so glad JKR outed Dumblesore.
Dannl
Oct 25, 2007 at 23:16
(((sigh))) , ……pass the mustard this dog is
overcooked . If anyone was gay it was Riddle he
certainly had wand problems .Ron of course must
have had leanings just kinda went both ways for
ever . Poor Hermione after Ron anyone would
have turned gay ( maybe he was BI ) .
Well and most of the professors had no libido at all .I’ll never see Potter the same way (snicker).
Poor Dumbledore after 150 years he needed a
wardrobe and a manicure . Oh yeah then theres
Ginny . She falls in love at 11 years old with an
older guy ( lol ) . Ohhh yeah Snape has a thing
for dead women . More I think about it JKR just
about covered everything . Even old dried up
spinster witches who have a thing for Harry . Lets not forget Tonks she goes for the animal
kingdom . We can do this all day (eye roll ) .
I think I’ll go back to before JKR had brain gas .
The way Harry was is just fine with me .
hopkins
Oct 26, 2007 at 07:58
really people, since when has a persons sexual prefrence been an important issue when it comes to reading a great book? the books were ment to be read and enjoyed not to nit pick sexuall orientation.
Angelica
Nov 4, 2007 at 16:16
i think the whole series is not about tolerance of others who are different but about equality and the fact that people are upset that dumbledore is gay shows you how closed minded society can be. we are all people the same despite race, religion or background (or whether you are a troll, giant or house elf) this is a great addition to the book and i am glad to find out dumbledore is gay, i still love this character. so to oreilly who does not approve all i can say is ITS A BOOK! get over it.
Amber
Jul 20, 2008 at 13:28
Hey, I really don’t care if he’s gay. I know a bunch of gay people and there’s nothing wrong with with them. Yes, I was serprized to learn that he was gay, but that’s only because I just wasn’t planley stated in the book. But I don’t look at the charicter as ew this is nasy, the whole story is messed up, blah blah. I still see him as a respected man. People need to get over the whole (ew there,he, she,who ever, is gay thing).I’m straght and I think gay people a so much fun, there just as if not more fun to hang out with then stright people. My aunt has a gay boss and she broke her heel one day when she was having lunch with him, and you know what? they spent the rest of the day shopping for shoes. My aunt got paid for shoe shopping……how many bosses do you know will pay you to shoe shop all day? NOT many….so gay people are awsome get over it, if Dombledore is gay so what!
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