Dumbledore is what?

I’m not quite sure what to make of J.K. Rowling’s recent outing of Dumbledore. At first glance, it seems positive for the books to embrace diversity and feature a gay character. But upon further reflection, maybe Dumbledore is not the best gay role model that Rowling could have offered up. Let’s think about it: He’s 115 years old, has no significant relationships, and spends much of his time with 13-year-old boys. Sound like any recent scandals we’ve experienced in Boston?

In an essay in Time Magazine last week, John Cloud, a gay writer, argues that the outing is “no gay triumph” and wonders why Rowling never acknowledged Dumbledore’s nature in the books. “We can only conclude that Dumbledore saw his homosexuality as shameful,” he writes. “His silence suggests a lack of personal integrity that is completely out of character.”

I also tend to agree with this boston.com blogger, who maintains that authors can’t just make major revelations about a character after the fact, without any mention of it in the text. Maybe Rowling didn’t want to give the Christian Right another reason to try to ban her books, but then why broach the topic at all?