Full disclosure: I have watched the movies, but have not read the Harry Potter books. I’m an avid reader... but there are just other books I want to read before Harry Potter! (I await vicious phone calls from HP friends, including the one who owns the HP hat, Legos set, 4 shirts and 2 afghans.)
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling revealed Friday that Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore is gay. My Harry Potter-reading friends think it’s no big deal. As an educator, I personally think it’s not a big deal, but a step in the right direction: to expose children to sexuality in a realistic and tolerant way. By realistic, I mean that Dumbledore’s sexuality was merely fact and not the plot in a book that was focused on the children. In our own lives, our sexualities are fact, rather than the plot. By tolerant, I mean our children are learning, in subtle ways, that we should respect everyone, regardless of their sexuality.
Yesterday’s BBC article wrote: “She said she regarded her novels as a ‘prolonged argument for tolerance’ and urged her fans to ‘question authority’.
But she added that not everyone likes her work. Christian groups have alleged the books promote witchcraft. The author said her revelation about Dumbledore would give them one more reason.”