Author
JK Rowling stunned Harry Potter fans, and ended long-running internet speculation, when she revealed during a tour of the US that the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was gay.
After Rowling read from the final book in the series,
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, at New York's Carnegie Hall, one of the 2,000 gathered fans asked whether Wizened old Albus Dumbledore ever found "true love."
To this, the Edinburgh-based author replied, "Dumbledore is gay," adding that he was smitten with rival wizard Gellert Grindelwald, whom he tragically was forced to kill.
The audience gasped, then fell silent, then burst into applause.
Rowling admitted: "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."
Rowling went on to reveal that, while reading through
Steve Kloves's script for the upcoming movie adaptation of
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she spotted a reference to a female love interest of Dumbledore's. She crossed out the passage and noted "Dumbledore is gay" in the margin.
Human rights campaigner
Peter Tatchell welcomed the news.
"It's good that children's literature includes the reality of gay people, since we exist in every society. But I am disappointed that she did not make Dumbledore's sexuality explicit in the books. Making it obvious would have sent a much more powerful message of acceptance."
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows revealed that Gellert Grindelwald was Dumbledore's adolescent friend. An argument-turned-battle resulted in the death of Albus’s disabled sister Ariana, ending Albus's friendship with Grindelwald. In 1945, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in the most intense wizarding battle ever.
Rowling said that Dumbledore never recovered from being forced to kill Grindelwald and that his love for the evil wizard was his "great tragedy."
Dumbledore himself was killed in 1997 by Slytherin chief Severus Snape (played on film by
Die Hard vet
Alan Rickman).
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was portrayed in the first two film adaptations by the late
Richard Harris (
Camelot), and afterward by
Michael Gambon (
Sleepy Hollow).
[Original post by RAYMOND HAINEY - Sunday Mail (UK). Thanks to PETER SCIRETTA at slashfilm.com for additional material.]
P. Ryan Anthony
