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Conservatives Attack Dumbledore; Claim Vindication For Falwell's Homophobia

thinkprogress.org — One prominent conservative blog, Newsbusters, is claiming that the revelation that Dumbledore is gay somehow vindicates the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, who was showered with ridicule in 1999 after declaring that one of the Teletubbies, Tinky Winky, was gay.

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  • tubular, on 10/24/2007, -7/+77Well Falwell skipped the rapture which he pronounced on a daily basis would be here in his lifetime. So hey he's got that going for him too.

    What's next, are they gonna blame the civil war in Iraq on Harry Potter too?
    • Coven, on 10/24/2007, -3/+41Didn't you hear? Falwell's death WAS the Rapture. The rest of us missed the boat.
      • slashbot, on 10/24/2007, -22/+0wth are you talking about?

        1-person rapture? yeah.....
        • OverkillTASF, on 10/24/2007, -1/+6I think the joke would be that Falwell was the only person worthy of escaping rapture.
          But you probably knew that. I definitely don't see what you did there.
        • slashbot, on 10/24/2007, -8/+0Oh I didnt get the joke either :P
          • mightydavefish, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1We figured that out.
            It was right around the time we all starting thinking "is this guy retarded or just stupid?".
        • Coven, on 10/24/2007, -0/+8Can you say "whoosh"?
      • macweirdo42, on 10/24/2007, -1/+13I think you got it backwards. The Rapture was actually the rest of us being spared Falwell's idiocy.
      • missingnoh4x, on 10/24/2007, -1/+5Agh, I was going to make that exact joke. Don't worry though, Hell without Falwell's presense. would be better than Heaven with Falwell.
      • rz8472, on 10/24/2007, -0/+4Looks like we've been "Left Behind". Time for Kirk Cameron... I mean Buck whatshisname to convert us to fundementalist Christianity, lest we fall under the spell of the antichrist-controlled United Nations.

        I'll start repenting by saying that the universe is 6000 years old, and that Noah's Flood killed the Dinosaurs.
        • KizardLing, on 10/24/2007, -3/+2The Dinosaur fossils? They were put there by God to test our faith.
        • KizardLing, on 10/24/2007, -6/+1The Dinosaur fossils? They were put there by God to test our faith.
        • cawpin, on 10/24/2007, -4/+1If you think the UN is any better than a bat-*****-crazy "Christian" you're in for a rude awakening. For the record, I'm a Christian and I can't stand Falwell any more than you.
          • rz8472, on 10/24/2007, -0/+2Read the Left Behind series... you'll know what I'm talking about.

            In the book the antichrist actually DOES control the UN. Almost certainly a veiled statement by Timothy LaHaye.
    • salomejones, on 10/24/2007, -8/+18I don't quite understand blaming fictional characters for things...or really it mattering at all whether Dumbledore's creator has declared him gay. Then again, I guess it does sort of make sense in a way---the same people who seem to be very upset about one fictional character's sexuality are the very same people who think that another fictional character is going to make sure they live in heaven after they die.
    • jsmith39, on 10/24/2007, -4/+18"Somewhere, Jerry Falwell is smiling."
      Really? I had no idea you could smile while burning alive for eternity. Maybe he meant Jerry Falwell is grimacing.
    • MadEnvoy, on 10/24/2007, -1/+1No, "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves"
    • FredFredrickson, on 10/24/2007, -1/+4If there was ever evidence that these conservative types who waste their time with this garbage are really just sad, pathetic losers underneath it all, this folks, is it.
  • SheilaNoya, on 10/28/2007, -12/+101I wonder how many homophobic Evangelicals have rushed into their kid's bedrooms and ripped the Harry Potter books off the shelves?
    What's next?
    It's funny that they don't even realize that their sacred painting of the Last Supper was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, who was also gay.
    • JigoroKano, on 10/25/2007, -10/+75Jesus never married and only hung out with dudes.
      • musicbear, on 10/24/2007, -12/+30Well... he may actually have married Mary Magdalene and fathered 2 or 3 children... that is... if he actually existed. Outside the bible, though, I don't think there are other written documents making reference to Christ ... so your guess is as good as any ones.
        • kahlessreborn, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Well Jesus and the Mother Marry are also in the Koran
      • foxhaze, on 10/24/2007, -4/+13Man, Jesus hung out with everybody.
        • JigoroKano, on 10/24/2007, -10/+9How many female apostles were there again?
          • dondara, on 10/24/2007, -1/+14Well, what is a womans role in the church? Nun.
          • mydigga, on 10/24/2007, -1/+15Bros before Ho's... Jesus was in a gang!
          • ZenMojo, on 10/24/2007, -1/+71, but Peter had a hair up his ass about it.
        • MattB123, on 10/23/2007, -0/+8Jesus was way cool
          Everybody liked Jesus
          Everybody wanted to hang out with him
          Anything he wanted to do, he did
          He turned water into wine
          And if he wanted to
          He could have turned wheat into marijuana
          Or sugar into cocaine
          Or vitamin pills into amphetamines

          - King Missle
      • clemdionisio, on 10/24/2007, -3/+50Wow, Jesus has a lot in common with modern day IT support guys
        • oxdeltaxo, on 10/24/2007, -0/+28Who preform an equal amount of miracles daily....
          • Charlotte_Web, on 10/24/2007, -0/+17No, IT people just like to make everyone THINK that restoring a file from backup is a miracle performed with much toil and seat.

            Kirk: “How long to re-fit?”
            Scotty: “Eight weeks. But you don’t have eight weeks, so I’ll do it for you in two.”
            Kirk: “Do you always multiply your repair estimates by a factor of four?”
            Scotty: “How else to maintain my reputation as a miracle worker?”
            Kirk: “Your reputation is safe with me.”
      • TheUngod, on 10/24/2007, -4/+3And Mary Magdalene was a fag hag
      • Midvicious, on 10/23/2007, -3/+1I wish one of the thousand year old dead sea scrolls had a footnote that read: Jesus was gay. Man, I think Christians would start malfunctioning until their heads explode.
    • doctorfungi, on 10/24/2007, -1/+41I'd be surprised if the Harry Potter books were ever there in the first place.
      • johnhummel, on 10/25/2007, -1/+18That was my thought. Most of the "hard core" Christians I've seen won't even let Potter into the house "because he's a wizard, and talks to witches, and the Bible says you have to burn them at the stake".

        If you ever see "Jesus Camp", there's a whole bit on the pastor screaming about how evil the Potter books are. Ignore that they teach children the world is a very, very complex place, and sometimes you need to do the best you can to be a decent, honest person - and that sometimes, even that won't be enough. My daughter's 8 and has gotten bitten by the bug, and I can't be more pleased.
        • cawpin, on 10/23/2007, -6/+1You haven't talked to a Christian, then.
        • yarukizero, on 10/24/2007, -0/+2I do find it amusing that hardcore Christians are declaring HP evil when the books are all about friendship, love, kindness, courage, and standing up for what you know is right. You know, the kind of stuff a real Christian should be into.
        • Thuktun, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1(spoilers?)





          Not to mention that at the end, Voldemort is offered redemption by Potter before rejecting it and being destroyed.
    • cornswalled, on 10/24/2007, -32/+4Fortunately all the parents at my church had already banned those books from their homes, so this is just another reason we did the right thing. Dumbledore is not just a Satan worshiping witch, but a gay Satan worshiping witch and he was probably molesting the male students in that British slut's fevered imagination.
      • jsmith39, on 10/24/2007, -0/+8You so silly
      • davdev, on 10/24/2007, -1/+13And I would still rather spend eternity with him than you.
      • MattB123, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5Dugg for comedic value!
      • eviltandem, on 10/24/2007, -0/+4psst... Dumbledore isn't real. He can't "do" anything you didn't read him doing in the books.
      • directive0, on 10/24/2007, -1/+5I think this is my favorite comment of the submission. You can almost taste the extreme detachment from reality.
      • Abomonog, on 10/24/2007, -1/+7It's really funny you should say that. You do realize that the series is based on Halloween version of witchcraft. The magic wands, magical words, benevolent ghosts, ogres that look like big dumb people. All these are Christian inventions intended to mask what Halloween was really about (celebrating the winter solstice by having a really good time and dressing up to scare away the evil spirits). Funny how you Christians will bash even your own inventions. Next think you know Christians will be calling J.R. Tolkien a satanist.
        • cornswalled, on 10/25/2007, -0/+1"Christians will be calling J.R. Tolkien a satanist."

          She wrote a book glorifying witchcraft and encouraging children to experiment in Occult arts. What do you THINK she is?
      • HollowMarkeD, on 10/24/2007, -2/+4You have some very retarded people in america.
      • Shmigget, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Jesus didn't hate anybody, even to the point of "Love thine enemy" and "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." If you can't follow that example, you should think about whose example you're really following.
      • CountBlah, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1Looks like someone just won Digg's Silliest Goose Award. You'll receive your "Fictional Characters Want My Children To Turn Gay" shirt and your own "I Believe Whatever My Preacher Tells Me" baseball cap.
    • walkingdogs, on 10/24/2007, -10/+22How dare their fairy tales interfere with our fairy tales. The audacity of medieval magicians interfering with our magician who could walk on water, turn water to wine and raise the dead. There is only one fairy tale to rule all, can't you see that.

      It's amazing how LUDICROUSLY CRAZY and DISILLUSIONED you evangelicals are. I find it amazing that you can't see how brainwashed you really are. Wake up and come back to reality please.
      • yfguitarist, on 10/24/2007, -5/+2Why are you being dugg up for hurling ignorant insults? Do you have to resort to that?
        • walkingdogs, on 10/24/2007, -3/+6I will stop when Gays, evolution, a woman's right to choose abortion, the anti war Americans, and Atheists stop being insulted by the evangelical religious cult. Until then, all's fair in love and war. I speak from experience as my mom is one of these crazies and I lived in Houston, Texas and catered many a party at these Evangelical stadiums and listened to what these people talked about. I love my mom but man are her and her friends belief structure is all skewed. But go ahead and blame me and my ability to reason and have the ability to think for myself and form my own conclusions based on PROOF and observation.
          • yfguitarist, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1An eye for an eye it is, then? They started it, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be the mature one and stop it! Grow up.
          • walkingdogs, on 10/25/2007, -2/+1@yfguitarist

            It's not about insults. It's about an agenda to make laws based on religious propaganda and doctrine. I will not sit idly by and allow the Religious nut jobs get away with teaching creationism in public schools, or prevent 2 like sexed people from getting married if they love each other that much, or have the 10 commandments displayed in government buildings, or prevent stem cell research from finding cures to diseases, or censor literature and television, or on and on and on. I have the right as an American to stand up to opposing mind sets and challenge their ideals and take the initiative to have my opinion heard. But apparently you don't get that.
          • yfguitarist, on 10/25/2007, -1/+1@walkingdogs

            I'm just tired of the double standards and immature name-calling. I don't know why I expected more from a site like this, but it's wishful thinking. You can get your point across without being condescending and presumptious. By being hostile you're only furthering the rift.
    • X9001, on 10/24/2007, -1/+8Leonardo Da Vinci was gay?
      • Urusai, on 10/24/2007, -14/+6Every historical figure was gay, according to the gay revisionists. Apparently they feel a superfluous need for validation, much the same way that African-American revisionists like to co-opt ancient Egypt. Sure, the pyramids were built by Africans, but the ruling class were Babylonians and Greeks, not Africans.
        • slenderdog, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3And that's why they built so many obelisks.
      • TerawattX, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1And allegedly a pedo if I remember correctly. I vaguely remember reading something about him having a young assistant who would draw penises on the pages of his notebooks and with whom he would have sex. I can't remember where I read it from though, so you might want to confirm this with another source.
    • azprofessional, on 10/24/2007, -7/+3Do you have the glazed over eyes like all the crazy christian zealots too? Its like some sort of koolaid brainwash glaze. All the evangelists have it. Cree-*****-py
    • kaeves, on 10/24/2007, -3/+14That painting is not sacred to Christians. It is a painting depicting an artist's impression of an event that is sacred. There is a difference.
    • gak001, on 10/24/2007, -1/+2Chances are, they already don't let their kids read Harry Potter because it teaches them witchcraft!!!
  • FudgeForever, on 10/24/2007, -8/+22Why are we talking about this?? This is a fictional character!!! Kinda like Farwell!!
    • musicbear, on 10/24/2007, -2/+9And any gay young person has already read their own gay subtext into any number of the characters and situations just as they did with the hobbits in the Lord of the Rings.
      • Terr01, on 10/24/2007, -0/+4You're confusing the movie with the book.
      • SenorCardgage74, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Yeah, but those two really WERE ghey'd
      • aduzik, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1Oh I know. A friend of mine is a huge LoTR fan and if you mention it, he won't shut up about all the gay subtext. As a matter of principle (actually because I knew it would piss him off) I've still never seen any of those movies.
    • quaxon, on 10/24/2007, -6/+3well seeing as how religious people base their entire lives on fiction, its not so surprising. After all, if it wasnt for fiction these people wouldnt have a lively-hood so they gotta regulate the world of fiction and make sure jesus and god, rulers of fiction land, are appeased and kept away from gays and demons.
  • theshizzler, on 10/28/2007, -5/+126Snape should've been charged with a hate-crime.
    • PecanHead, on 10/24/2007, -5/+4Okay, that is funny.
    • nalf38, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1I'm going to be the total nerd here and point out that Snape didn't kill Big D. Read the last book.
      • Thuktun, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1(spoilers?)









        Er, actually he did. You might have to read the last book again.

        Snape didn't *defeat* Dumbledore, but he definitely cast the killing curse on him.
  • maklershed, on 10/24/2007, -10/+7What spells are the conservatives using?
    • Cerialthriller, on 10/24/2007, -2/+9some of them are using the Conjure Stall spell as we speak for some quick gay action
    • TheDreadDiggerD, on 10/24/2007, -2/+3Well, they're using Isochron Scepters with Counterspell and Boomerang with Stasis to lock down the board and Meloku to win the game with 1/1 illusion tokens.
    • Abomonog, on 10/24/2007, -1/+1Conjuration. They gotta whip up some little boys to *****.
  • ScornForSega, on 10/23/2007, -5/+4....I was expecting a link to BBSpot.
  • taintedzodiac, on 10/23/2007, -9/+3Finally! A use for the Bury -> "OK, this is lame." option!

    But... the story needs to be seen for the comedic value. I'm so confused!
  • Eivo, on 10/24/2007, -2/+3You must be joking....
    • iticu, on 10/24/2007, -3/+6Indeed. When I found out I kinda laughed then forgot about it.
      Why would they get so worked up over this? It's not like he's changed. Damn evangelicals are as bad as the taliban.
  • ducksauce001, on 10/24/2007, -2/+19(sarcastic comment) Watch out! Reading Harry Potter will make you gay! Just like hanging around gay people will make you gay!
    • TheDreadDiggerD, on 10/24/2007, -2/+3So will gang-banging plastic women.
  • Synthesize, on 10/24/2007, -3/+10Who said Wizards can't be a little bi-curious? Conservatives? Give me a break...
    • TheUngod, on 10/24/2007, -2/+3Well if God made them a little bi curious, then God must be a little bi curious too
  • reed311, on 10/24/2007, -4/+70Pretty sad that people think it actually matters that a fictional character is gay.

    My favorite quote of the article:
    - Psycheout at Blogs 4 Brownback called it “revolting,” saying “Dumbledore is a gay homosexual who doesn’t deserve to live on G-d’s green earth.”

    Which really goes to show that some Christians are unable to tell the difference between reality and fiction.
    • Identity4, on 10/24/2007, -2/+15My mom had a great quote related to Dumbeldore being gay.. "So?"
    • iticu, on 10/24/2007, -4/+14That's not a Christian. That's a victim of mainstream-religion. There's a difference.
    • spudnic, on 10/24/2007, -1/+29Is 'gay homosexual' like a double negative?
      • azprofessional, on 10/24/2007, -1/+12you bet it is, meaning he's the most hetero character ever.
      • g30ph, on 10/23/2007, -2/+1Maybe he's a happy *****. Maybe he's taking back gay so he can be a gay porch monkey homosexual.
    • r00tus3r, on 10/24/2007, -4/+6I'm not sure that I agree that it doesn't "matter". Movies and literature (fictional or not) have often been used to be push a particular agenda. In this case, it appears that it may be the acceptance or tolerance of homosexuality. Whether that is right or wrong is up for debate, but to call it irrelevant is dismissive and short sighted.
      • ronintetsuro, on 10/24/2007, -1/+1Yeah... because NO ONE is pushing a christian fundamentalist agenda. *coughwaronchristmascough*
  • Laughto, on 10/24/2007, -2/+20- Psycheout at Blogs 4 Brownback called it “revolting,” saying “Dumbledore is a gay homosexual who doesn’t deserve to live on G-d’s green earth.”

    Funniest quote ever?
    • jamangold, on 10/24/2007, -1/+3Send him to "rehab"!
    • c0n724ll10n, on 10/24/2007, -2/+5Saying that he's a "gay homosexual" makes him straight, haha.
    • dondara, on 10/24/2007, -1/+3"...gay homosexual..." Thats the best, moronic AND redundant.
    • Laughto, on 10/24/2007, -1/+5Yeah the "gay homosexual" thing plus the whole apparently not realising that Dumbledore, the wizard headmaster of a wizarding school, doesn't live on God's green earth.
      • cawpin, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Sure he does. The castle is in the Scottish highlands.
    • hcl40u, on 10/24/2007, -1/+5He probably meant to say Dumbledore is extra gay or hard gay.
    • robberry, on 10/24/2007, -1/+4It reminded me of the South Park episode that introduced Big Gay Al. "That dog is a gay homosexual!"
  • mongoloidplease, on 10/23/2007, -21/+4Never read any Harry Potter books, but for those of you that have: could I get some stats on Dumbledore's *****? Circumcized? Circumference? Erect Length? Pigmentation? Thanks.
    • davdev, on 10/26/2007, -2/+54 1/2" long soft 7" hard , 5 around. Uncut. Pink, with a tinge of grey.
    • ronaldinho, on 10/23/2007, -2/+2dude it's a children's/teen's book, not a porno read
    • ahhell, on 10/26/2007, -2/+3Uh...WTF?
    • azprofessional, on 10/23/2007, -1/+1Pfffffffff fhahahah
  • superguysteve, on 10/24/2007, -1/+10Is this really what we're arguing about?
    • g30ph, on 10/24/2007, -0/+4What could possibly be more important in this day and age than the fact that a fictional character has been outed as a homosexual by his author even though it never comes up in any of the books unless you really read between the lines. I mean Dumbledore meets another wizard in his youth and they are both interested in the same things. There is no mention of Dumbledore and any female interests. I never concluded he must be a raging *****. My mind just wasn't on sex when I was reading the books. OK maybe I thought about Hermione a little.
  • zomgwaffles, on 10/23/2007, -11/+3pfff, what a bunch of *****
  • Chassit, on 10/24/2007, -2/+5***** ridiculous.
  • flaminio, on 10/24/2007, -1/+3Someone is really holding a grudge.
  • anarchyx34, on 10/24/2007, -7/+38Note to Christian idiots: Dumbledore dosent exist.
    • racekarl, on 10/24/2007, -5/+7To be fair, this comment applies to the other side of the issue as well. All the gay-rights groups that are lauding this as some sort of victory need the same reality check.
      • StarlessKnight, on 10/24/2007, -4/+6Actually they can claim it more as a victory, since it's including a homosexual person in pop culture as more than just a token figure for someone's amusement. Consider how Black/African-American people were portrayed before and after the Civil Rights movement and the roles they held as actors.
        • allisonaxe, on 10/24/2007, -2/+11and in addition to that, not only is it a "token stereotyped character for someone's amusement" but in this case, the character's status as a homosexual holds no bearing on the plot, so I even see it as a double victory. nobody would've known Dumbledore was gay for sure if she hadn't told anyone, and thats not necessarily because he's closeted (reading through some passages actually make a different kind of sense now with this knowledge.) Dumbledore, while gay, wasn't all about being gay, and didn't let that be the focus of his life..... which is something that real life GLBT's can't seem to handle yet, and even in gay-created cinema, most of the time the whole thing is about "being gay" as opposed to "telling a story that happens to have gay people in it." i find it distasteful and sad that we can't just say "ok, this guy likes boys" or "this girl has a girlfriend" and move on to more important things.

          The character of Dumbledore, (who is a respected member of the wizarding community AND just so happens to have loved another wizard) is a more positive homosexual role model than, say, Jeffrey (in the movie/play "Jeffrey" who eats sleeps breathes gah and just resigns to getting aids because its part of the gay lifestyle.)
  • taintedzodiac, on 10/24/2007, -5/+10Puts a whole new light on those scenes where Dumbledore whispers into Harry's ear and says things like, "There will always be help for those who ask for it."
    • cornswalled, on 10/25/2007, -15/+3*shudder* That's a disgusting thought. The character was clearly a pedophile.
      • macweirdo42, on 10/25/2007, -3/+10Don't tell me you buy into Rita Skeeter's slanderous nonsense.
        • taintedzodiac, on 10/25/2007, -0/+2Obviously, Dumbledore neglected his sister because she was female.
          • cornswalled, on 10/25/2007, -0/+1If he weren't gay he probably would have raped her too.
      • ronintetsuro, on 10/24/2007, -1/+2You're clearly an idiot.
    • cawpin, on 10/24/2007, -0/+3"If you tickle it, he will come."
    • sparf, on 10/24/2007, -0/+7'-- and massive sherbet balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking them," said Ron, who was plainly not listening to a word Hermione was saying.'
      Prisoner of Azkaban
  • jamangold, on 10/24/2007, -2/+12When I first heard this announcement yesterday, my reaction was a sigh and a shrug of the shoulders. Why does a character in a children's book require a sexual orientation at all? What's the point?

    Cue the needless media firestorm.
    • nicko68, on 10/24/2007, -1/+10Exactly. And if she really wanted him to be gay, why didn't she make it part of the story instead of announcing it months after the fact? Some say there were clues, but they were obscure enough that many people didn't pick up on them. But she already got her money from the Christians who might not otherwise want to read it (or let their children) and now she can also try to win favour with the gay rights groups.
      • KizardLing, on 10/24/2007, -4/+6It's called "background"; she has much more details on each character worked out than are included in the books because it helps her understand and write the characters better. Most authors do. Someone asked her a question that she could answer based on that background, so she did. And those clues are just a matter of writing the character to be consistent to that background.
    • Firehed, on 10/24/2007, -1/+9It doesn't. It's, for all intents and purpose, one of those useless bits of trivia. Had someone not personally asked the author, we wouldn't know. Although you can expect it to be one of those pointless sub-plots they decide to stick in the movies to hide the complete lack of adherence to the original story.
    • StarlessKnight, on 10/24/2007, -3/+8Isn't that kind of the point, though? So he was gay. Despite what some Extreme Conservatives would have a person believe, gay people don't all parade their sexuality around or have some gay agenda. Dumbledore was gay and he behaved like any other man in the stories.
      • macweirdo42, on 10/24/2007, -3/+9I've never understood that point, about gay people parading their sexuality around. I mean, straight people do it all the time... What's the big deal?
        • slenderdog, on 10/24/2007, -2/+4Because it's normal for normal people to be normal.
  • statrick, on 10/24/2007, -3/+3snape was a conservative deep down inside... i knew it!
    • KizardLing, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2Let's see - the Death Eaters had a prejudice against "mudbloods", the minority in their world.

      Yep, conservatives.
  • manstein01, on 10/24/2007, -4/+2I cannot believe this is an issue. Reminds me of when large amounts of Merry Melodies and Tom and Jerry had to changed to become "modern" (ie politically correct)
    • arbulus, on 10/24/2007, -2/+4You do realize that those cartoons were made in the 40's and if they containted a black character were VERY racist?
      • slenderdog, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1so what? why can't people look at the past in context without the whitewash?
    • solesoul, on 10/24/2007, -1/+0I'm black, and I love ALL those old cartoons. Could it be because its just a cartoon, and really shouldn't be taken too seriously?
  • swrostmore, on 10/24/2007, -2/+6slow news day at ThinkProgress?
    • Terr01, on 10/23/2007, -1/+1Probably. For a minute I thought the headline referred to the actor.
    • Btzarro, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2Slow day for inbred conservatives & Fox news.
  • maiku00, on 10/23/2007, -3/+4its baffling how religion can twist someone in to such a horrible, ignorant, malignant being. too bad.
    /atheism
    • slenderdog, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Yeah, that Dumbledore wouldn't be so gay without religion twisting him...
  • AiguilleDuMidi, on 10/24/2007, -6/+4ROFL. JK Rowling is such a genius...
  • Frei, on 10/24/2007, -2/+43Shouldn't religious conservatives be doing things like helping the poor and feeding the sick instead of hating fictional homosexual characters?
    • BOFH2, on 10/24/2007, -4/+13Some of us are, but apparently we are all lumped in with people who like to hate.

      Oh, and for the record - WHO CARES IF HE IS GAY?
      • Frei, on 10/23/2007, -1/+5More power to you. Thanks for restoring a bit of faith I have left in humanity as a whole.
    • nestcrw, on 10/24/2007, -0/+11It's the people with the loudest mouthes that get the most attention.
    • KizardLing, on 10/23/2007, -2/+5My girlfriend hates the fact that these asshats call themselves "Fundamentalist Christians" when they are anything but. So, I've borrowed a page from the progressive bloggers and started calling them the "So-Called Fundamentalist Christians" (SCFC). Seems a little more appropriate.

      Also, people need to accept the fact that hate isn't found only amongst the religious. I personally saw a girl get (verbally) attacked by the president of the Atheist & Humanist organization on my campus simply because she was wearing a cross.
      • Azuroth, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Which would still be hate based on religion. Not saying that your point is invalid, just that your example doesn't prove anything.
        • KizardLing, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1I said nothing about hate based on religion; it obviously is. I said that it wasn't found merely amongst the religious. As atheism is by definition non-religious, I think my point still stands.

          Admittedly, some atheists can be pretty dogmatic. But I'd say that's different than calling them religious.

    • gweller, on 10/23/2007, -4/+2I don't care if he is gay, but for Rowlings to come out and say he is gay is just retarded. Some kids younger than 10 read these books and they shouldn't even be concerning themselves with sex at all when reading the book, homosexual or heterosexual. I'm avoiding all the movies and the books now, not because Dumbledore is gay, but because she felt the need to inject her politics into a story that didn't need it just like the idiots in Hollywood.
      • skyraiser9, on 10/23/2007, -1/+1That was exactly my thought, why even mention it when it has absolutely no bear on the stories and is not even mentioned. And even more ridiculous for ANYONE to adapt this into current politics.
      • jibii, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Just because a character's sexuality is announced doesn't make the books now unsuitable for children. If you feel that "sex" should be kept out of the books, you'd have to take offense to the epilogue in which you find out characters have gotten married and had kids. That means, *gasp* they had sex!

        same-sex romance =/= R rated material
      • snarfyboy, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Does that mean she shouldn't have included Lupin marrying Tonks? I mean, thats clearly an expression of their heterosexuality and has no place in a children's book according to your logic.
    • awakenDeepBlue, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1Some people like to manipulate religion to their own agenda, it happens all the time...
  • flashingcurser, on 10/23/2007, -9/+3Smacks of hype to sell more books. They will probably edit it out. Millions of homophobes will buy it to see if he really is gay.
  • Vicujozobenaxod, on 10/23/2007, -13/+3Who cares about Dumbassdore?
  • GeneralKickass, on 10/23/2007, -7/+6Uhh...who gives a *****?
  • scorchedearth, on 10/24/2007, -3/+5The headline is misleading. Not all 'conservatives' seize on this Christo-fascist claptrap.
  • ZenMojo, on 10/23/2007, -1/+5You're telling me this man's supposed to be straight?
    http://www.harrymedia.com/img/data/media/2/x_studi ...
  • IntoTheWired, on 10/23/2007, -1/+0Hindsight bias.
    • slenderdog, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1That's what you get from looking at their hinds.
  • Treoinmypocket, on 10/23/2007, -16/+5What is with the Brits? It seems they are on a mission to force me to watch, or read about gay characters. I really could care less if a person is gay but the Brits seem hell bent on shoving it in my face.
    -DR WHO, Dumbledore, the latest Bond (in the 2nd Daniel Craig installment), Torchwood.

    Is it like a requirement now?

    So here's a question. With Europe embracing Islam and going out of their collective way to not offend Islamic sensibilities, how do they decide amongst competing Political Correctnesses (is that even a word? Probably not). I mean we don't want to offend gays so we'll feature them in all our successful stories vs we don't want to offend Muslims so we have can't have any gays....which one wins?
    • twazzer, on 10/23/2007, -2/+11theres nothing politically correct about it. We're just not as uptight as you Yanks.
      • azprofessional, on 10/23/2007, -3/+3Perfectly put.
      • Treoinmypocket, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2I take your point but, when you introduce a sexual orientation to a character you are making a decison to highlight it. Dumbledore's character didn't require it - it isn't relevant. Same with the characters in DR WHO and Torchwood. Bond's character is of course nearly centered on his heterosexuality.

        SO in each case someone is making a statement. My question is why? There has to be a reason.
        • snarfyboy, on 10/24/2007, -0/+3How is it not required? What about the heterosexual relationships in those shows? Are they also not required? Should they be thrown out? Should all shows now act as if the characters are platonic loveless robots?
          • Treoinmypocket, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1The heterosexual realtionships are the baseline and in the case of DR WHO and BOND, firmly established. DUMBLEDORE's sexuality was never addressed as the story never required it for the last (how many books -6, 7 8?).
      • nalf38, on 10/24/2007, -0/+0I beg you to please not lump all Yanks together with Treoinmypocket.
    • petebot, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Yes, it's a requirement to shove gay characters in your face. That's why JK Rowling made sure Dumbledore was acting supergay in every scene he was in. It's kind of like how Brad Pitt is always eating in those Ocean's 11 movies--Dumbledore's always doing it with dudes.
    • Btzarro, on 10/23/2007, -1/+3You pommys are more xenophobic then us when you see one brown-skinned person corss your path.
    • slenderdog, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1C'est la vice anglaise.
    • Chassit, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Somebody forced you to read these books?
  • BOFH2, on 10/24/2007, -6/+6One prominent conservative blog - yes then that means that all conservatives think that. BAH!
    • Btzarro, on 10/24/2007, -2/+2Its True: All conservatives are inbred fundy hicks.
      Not sarcasm.
    • KizardLing, on 10/24/2007, -3/+1Funny - I saw several mentioned. And as they seem to be extremely popular on that side of the fence, it would probably be safe to say the majority of conservatives support them?

      If that's not the case, then do something to clean up your side of the fence. Start supporting the sane voices. Until we see them, we're going to associate you with the people you tacitly allow to speak on your behalf.
      • SLSSNAKE, on 10/24/2007, -1/+3Alright, next time I see a Muslim man I'll be sure to give him a stern talking-to for all the turmoil in the Middle East.
      • skyraiser9, on 10/24/2007, -1/+2That has got to be one of the stupidest comments I have ever seen. There are whackos on all sides, that does not mean they are the majority. Eliminate the whackos or join us, bah, your an idiot.
        • KizardLing, on 10/24/2007, -1/+1Try taking some lessons in comprehension. I said that if you don't want them representing you, put forth voices that do. Otherwise, without any information to the contrary, people are going to see their voice as yours.

          ***** moron.
    • yfguitarist, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Are you being dugg down because people want to believe that all conservative indeed DO think like that?
  • NoUse, on 10/24/2007, -4/+8Not terribly surprising that Harry Potter would hit close to home for Christian Conservatives. Most of their life is lived in a fantasy land anyway.
  • cambob76, on 10/23/2007, -11/+4How can Rowling do this? Adding to the story in a press release after the fact. Retarded. Was Dumbledore the bitch or the butch?
    • KizardLing, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2It wasn't in a press release. It was in answer to a fan's question, at which time she provided some insight into the character's background that she had developed while she was writing the books.
  • Firehed, on 10/23/2007, -1/+7Did Falwell create the teletubbies? Did he do anything beyond make a claim (I have no idea on this one as I'm largely unfamiliar with the issue, but claiming someone to be gay doesn't make you homophobic)?

    This is apples and oranges.
    • jgrossma, on 10/23/2007, -2/+3Claiming someone is gay doesn't make you homophobic. Claiming that the a TV show is "damaging to the moral lives of children" because it has a gay character (as Falwel did) does
    • KizardLing, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I wouldn't call it homophobia in and of itself. But the fact that he makes this claim and then attacks them for it does make him so.

      The thing that I find at least as scary though is that he was able to find anything sexual about the teletubbies in the first place. It makes me wonder if Falwell was a closeted furry...
  • Nuphor, on 10/23/2007, -2/+1Falwell has awesome gaydar for a "straight" person.
  • Monk22, on 10/23/2007, -3/+7this is the best right wing slam they could come up with this week, laughable. to reiterate, the real world does not care about bloggers right or left.
  • neiltc13, on 10/23/2007, -10/+3There was me thinking these were actually Conservative blogs supporting the UK Conservative Party. It isn't. It's absolute American rubbish. Buried as lame because it's just a damn book.
  • growler1, on 10/24/2007, -1/+4That "somewhere" where Falwell is smiling?

    My guess is it's a place with no doors or windows.
  • Dracura, on 10/24/2007, -1/+9Last I checked, Teletubbies != Dumbledore.
    • Reviler, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Teletubbies < > Dumbledore
      for you VB dudes
    • Thuktun, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1Or rather, Teletubbies < < Dumbledore.

      (Damn digg formatting yanks everything after two sequential less-thans.)
  • PecanHead, on 10/24/2007, -3/+13Uh - I don't get it. I couldn't care less about whether he was gay or not, but this was just a comment that Rowling made while talking on one of her press shindigs. It never actually happened in the books.

    That'd be like Tolkien writing in his memoirs that Frodo was a bulimic, meth-addicted, hermaphrodite. It's nonsense. If there's no evidence of it in the original book, you can't retroactively modify a produced work to fit with your agenda.

    Frankly, if this is her attempt at trying to strengthen cultural tolerance, it's a little sad that she didn't have the fortitude to actually include this in the actual books. Weak sauce.
    • boxybrzown, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Thank you.
      Dumbledore is Gay = Han didn't shoot first = Revisionist *****
    • skankyBacon, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1There's no evidence that he is heterosexual either.
    • undergrace, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I agree with you completely! Everyone is talking about how this "promotes tolerance" - there is absolutely no mention of Dumbledore's sexuality in the books, so how does it teach acceptance? It would be different if Dumbledore "came out" in one of the earlier books and the students and faculty all reacted positively towards it. Not only would it have shown acceptance but would also help any reader struggling with their own sexuality to see that positive reaction. If anything, the fact that Dumbledore hid his sexuality shows shame. And you figure that Rita Skeeter of all people would have unearthed *that* little gem in all the digging she did and would have definitely been in her book. Then Harry could have confronted the idea that his beloved Dumbledore was more "unusual" than he ever realized, and discovered how unimportant sexuality actually is. If it's not in the books, it's superfluous... that's my opinion at least.
    • lunarworks, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1"Frankly, if this is her attempt at trying to strengthen cultural tolerance, it's a little sad that she didn't have the fortitude to actually include this in the actual books. Weak sauce."

      Actually, it was a response to a question from the audience. Someone asked if Dumbledore ever finds love, and she explained that he "admired" a rival wizard long ago, but had to kill him in a duel. Since then he has lived with his sadness.
  • MattB123, on 10/23/2007, -1/+11Who would Jesus hate?
  • Birion, on 10/23/2007, -4/+2I still fail to see the reason why this should be big news. After all, isn't it a Christian (and I apologize to anyone who still believes in the outdated notion that Christianity should be about love and peace) imperative to burn the books at sight? Why should they care if one of the characters is gay? If not, isn't it only more reason to get rid of them?
    /sarc
  • Coffeedemon, on 10/23/2007, -1/+3Sells more books doesn't it? Its pretty obvious this was done to get the outraged and the curious to go buy the copies they didn't read when they first came out so they can uncover the "mystery". Had to do something I guess ... otherwise she might be called upon to actually write something new (and original)
  • british961, on 10/23/2007, -1/+1according to the right it's clearly not ok for this FICTIONAL character to be a homosexual, but yet the premise of the story has its roots in witchcraft, wizardry and sorcery, all clearly acceptable topics of discussion
  • trenchcoat, on 10/23/2007, -9/+3I don't see what the big deal is. Aren't male Harry Potter fans gay anyway?
    • zwaldowski, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1You're going to be dugg down so far that you'll be face to face with Jerry Falwell.
  • LogicBomB, on 10/23/2007, -3/+5Could someone please explain to me why the sexual orientation of a character makes a damn bit of difference when it does not impact ANYTHING that occured in the books?

    It would be like arbitrarily saying that Golum in LOTR was gay - he has no sex in the books, never talks about it, and no decision is based on it. It's would be just to piss people off.
    • petebot, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2No, no, it was Samwise that was gay.
      • DreKor, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2the wife and kids were just a front.
        • petebot, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Totally. "Mr. October likes it hot."
        • pyrotix, on 10/23/2007, -0/+113 kids? He totally had something to prove.
        • bemidia, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1Besides, did you see the way he was looking at Frodo at the dock? He was totally in love with him. He got married to console himself.
      • flclfan22, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1God I'd let Samwise do me in a heartbeat!
    • DangerStepp, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Thanks for saving me the work. I was about to post the EXACT same thing you just did.
    • gudnbluts, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1It does explain why he keeps going on about his precious ring.
  • ronaldinho, on 10/23/2007, -8/+3This is lame. So what if Dumbledore is gay? So now he's not the sage wizard that he has been throughout the book? Get real.

    I'm a Christian and though I will never be gay (yes, count me in among those who think marriage is made between male and female), I don't care if anyone else is or decides to become gay. I think it's not OK to be gay personally, but it should be one's personal choice and freedom to decide.
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