Author J.K. Rowling has outed Headmaster Albus Dumbledore as gay.
J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.
After reading briefly from the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she took questions from audience members.
She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love."
"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.
She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."
Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his "great tragedy."
But of course! I mean, in this age of PCism, it just wouldn't have been juvenile fiction if somebody wasn't gay.
It was difficult not to roll my eyes after reading Rowling's statement, but my second reaction was why? Why does Dumbledore have to be gay? And why, since it wasn't obvious from the books, did Rowling feel compelled to out the beloved Hogwarts headmaster now? Are sales waning?
UPDATE: Oh goody! Amanda has one of her usual screeds, which just shows, yet again, why she doesn't "get" the whole having kids thing.
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