So Dumbledore is gay. What does it all mean?

Let me be upfront about one thing right away — I'm not a fan of Harry Potter. Even though I'm a pretty big fan of fantasy, and even though I've tried several times, I just can't get into the books. That being said, I am a huge fan of J.K. Rowling.

What's not to love about this woman who, through sheer grit and determination, created what is probably the most popular children's book series of all time? Plus she's a bleeding heart liberal who says her own books are all about tolerance.

And on a more personal note, several years ago I accompanied Brent on a book tour of his through Northern California that just happened to have us trailing a week or two behind Rowling as she promoted one of her books. And all we heard were great things about her from the bookstores we visited. We heard tales about how she stayed at each store no matter how long it took to make sure every kid got a signed copy of the book. She was unfailingly gracious and always appreciative of all the folks who made her such a success. Everyone told us the lady just oozed class and, trust me, we've heard plenty of horror stories about other authors.

So when the news broke Friday night that Dumbledore is gay, I had quite a mixed reaction. First off was, "Oh, crap! Even though it's 10:30 at night, I've got to write a bloody article!" That was followed by "This is SO cool" and disbelief that the audience went wild over the news. That was followed by "Why the hell is she telling us this now and not in the books themselves?"

So it's been very interesting to sort of hang back and watch the news coverage and the reaction of the fans themselves.

Most of the comments on our site and elsewhere have been pretty positive. (A note over on The Leaky Cauldron says they welcome debate on the issue, but that the hateful posts there had been deleted.) The fact that Rowling chose not to make it clear in the books that Dumbledore is gay doesn't trouble most fans for many good reasons. The books are about Harry Potter, say some. Others point out that Dumbledore was secretive and didn't say much about his private life. Others feel the fact that Rowling didn't make a big deal out of it shows how far we've come. Then there are others who get in a huff that not every story has to have a gay character so what is the big deal? And there are some who say, these are children's books — of course there aren't gay characters.

Here are a few of my thoughts about the whole issue. At what point did Rowling plan on making this information known? If she hadn't been asked this question, would we have ever known Dumbldore was gay? I'm also somewhat baffled by Rowling's surprise at how glad people were. After everyone cheered, she reportedly said, "If I'd known it would make you so happy, I would have announced it years ago!"

She clearly knew about all the fan fiction so how could she not know how much folks wondered why there weren't any gay characters in the books as well? Like I said, I'm not a Potter fan and even I knew folks discussed what seemed to be a pretty glaring omission.

I'm afraid I can't sign on with the subtext is enough crowd. Over the course of seven books a lot of information was revealed about the characters. Why there couldn't have been an exchange between Harry and Dumbledore that mirrored the exchange between Rowling and her fan Friday night:

Harry: Have you ever been in love, Headmaster?

Dumbledore: I was once, Harry. I loved Gellert Grindewald, but it wasn't meant to be.

It wouldn't have been that hard and kids frequently ask adults about such things. And, sorry, but it would've been more powerful had the information been revealed in the books themselves. As for those who ask why there has to be a gay character in every book, movie, TV show, all I can say is "catch a clue." There are so few gay characters in children's literature as to be non-existent and that is a shame. Kids learn about differences from a very early age and age-appropriate information about sexual orientation should be treated no differently than any other information.

So for the fact these adored books now include a gay character, however tangentially, I applaud Rowling for what she has done. Do I wish she had done it earlier? Absolutely. Do I understand why didn't do it sooner? Not really. But she has done it now and it is a great thing for all of us.