Yes, this post has absolutely NOTHING to do with serving.  At least I don’t think it’s going to end up having anything to do with serving.

I’ve been letting the whole “Dumbledore is gay” statement ride since it first came out.  I was content to continue enjoying the books, because they’re still good books.   They’re always going to be good books.   People are having such a major public outcry against J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series now, much the same way the Christian Right went against it for the magical overtones, that the entire series is being made out to be a pornographic series of events.  What people who haven’t read the books don’t understand is this: The books are nothing more than very well written fiction.  As the series progressed, it became darker yes, more death and decay, but there were no sexual perversions held within the covers.

People are also saying the quote was made in order to boost sales of the previous books.  I myself am one of those.  As a great fan of the Harry Potter series, and an open homosexual male, I personally believe that it was an advertising ploy, and I applaud Ms. Rowling for it.  She has done what any great PR person would do.  She’s put focus on a a controversial topic in order to boost sales.  She not only has skill at writing, but at getting cash too.  Yes, she was in the proverbial poorhouse when the first book was written, but she wrote it well and is a billionaire.  I say GO MS.  ROWLING!  Do what you need to do, even if it includes outing a character.

People are also quoting areas of the book that show Dumbledore was gay.  Namely one,  “You cannot imagine how his ideas caught me, Harry, inflamed me,’ ” Dumbledore says in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final book in Rowling’s record-breaking fantasy series.  I got this quote from a friend you all know from the comments here, Jimmy-James, so you’ll have to ask him where the quote actually came from.  

The problem with the above quote is that people are only seeing part of the conversation between Harry and Dumbledore.  Dumbledore wasn’t alluding to his homosexuality, no matter how much we try to make it seem like he is.  Dumbledore was great friends with “Grindelwald”, the character he was supposedly in love with.  The conversation in question was about Dumbledore explaining to Harry about his past, including his days of having more evil tendencies toward ruling “Muggles” aka, non-magic humans.

Christians (not all Christians, but many) are saying that children shouldn’t be exposed to homosexuality at a young age, yet there’s nothing in the books that exposes them to homosexuality except for a crass joke in the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where Dudley Dursley says, “Who’s Cedric, your boyfriend?”  after hearing Harry moan his dead companions name in his sleep during a nightmare.  What the Christian Right is overlooking is that these books actually got people to READ which is something that children have been doing less and less of in this busy new age.  The Christian Right is also overlooking the works of other Homosexuals in history.

Take Tchaikovsky, a famous composer of the Romantic Era, notably one of the best composers in history.  You’ve all heard some of his work at one time or another.  Think of Marche Slave and The 1812 Overture.  Also think of his musical masterpiece in The Nutcracker Suite.  Many people believe that Tchaikovsky was a Homosexual, yet fanatical Christians still allow their children to see the Nutcracker every year during the holiday season (I would say Christmas, but it’s becoming less P.C.) these days.

Think also of the other homosexuals throughout history, and what they have contributed or what they represent.  They are taught about in your Literature classes, you see them on television.  They have held high office, and have helped guide civilizations in the past.

Think of  Alexander the Great 356-323BC, or BCE,  and Hephasteion.  

Think of Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony.

Then we have some of the most influential artists of all time, Leonardo DaVinci, Raphael, Michelangelo Buonarroti and Donatello.

I could go on and on about the influence of Homosexuals in the historical context, but it wouldn’t change anyone’s mind.   I just find it funny that the very same people who cry about their children reading a book that has a homosexual character yet has no homosexual exploits don’t cry in the least bit about their children learning from or about these same historical figures in school.

For those of you who are screaming that the Harry Potter books should be banned, burned or anything like that, think of all the other historical homosexuals and what they have given to our world today.  Also remember that J.K. Rowling succeeded where many other authors and parents have failed.  She got children to read.  She got children to enjoy reading.  In this era of technology, television, XBOX, Playstation, and cellphones, who of you save for a few can say the same.

Sorry for the change of topic, but I just had to get these things out.  Readers new and old, enjoy debating this post, and come back for more of the normal.

Ribeye