Here's a link to a brief story about the revalation
Newsweek article with comments and discussion here
Now. Though I'm poking a little fun in the top paragraph, I've enjoyed all the Potter books. And I adore Dumbledore. I'm first and foremost a Mithrandir man (That's Gandalf in the Common Tongue), but Albus is my second favorite wizard. And as I contemplate my reaction to the news, I have to say that I don't care about him being gay at all. And I really like that I don't care. Even better would be if I didn't care that I didn't care--does that make sense? I'm thinking about one of the comments (from a 13 year-old) on the Newsweek story, about how much homophobia there is in middle school. When I got punched in the face for calling my scoutmaster's son a faggot, my dad told me what I had said (I'd had no idea what the word meant). But beyond the message that this epithet might get me punched in the face, and a pretty much non-judgemental definition, there were not a lot of messages out there telling me that love is just love. And there were a lot of messages teaching me to despise anyone who was "queer", including myself if I might have any queerness in me.
Back to the big ''news": the way Dumbledore rolls doesn't change anything about the way I feel about this beloved character, though it does make me sad to learn about his heartbreak. Too, I think this might further illuminate his empathy for Snape. Although Snape's heart was hurt in a different way, both of them lost in love.
What I'm wondering is: does anyone else think it's unusual for a writer to reveal backstory in this way? Or is it just unusual for people to notice? For it to be "news"?
In any case, as Roxy says:
