He kept playing his part in the Dark Lord’s demise even after his own death.

Oh, and also, he was such a powerful wizard that even the fucking ministry was shit scared of him. 

So when J.K. Rowling revealed that he was gay, I was like, ‘okay, not that it matters but that’s an interesting facet to the character.’

I accept Dumbledore’s homosexuality like it’s none of my fucking business; as I do with other members of the LGTBQ community. I will march with you for your rights. 

But announcing a character’s sexuality after the book gets launched and gets sold worldwide is somewhat confusing.

Imagine what could have been achieved if Rowling revealed this in her books. It would’ve helped children understand that strength, courage, intelligence, talents or morals do not have anything to do with one’s sexual orientation.

Harry Potter is one of the great literary works of our time. Imagine a generation of children growing up idolising a gay character.

Dumbledore being gay need not affect the storyline. But if she knew that he was always gay then why not make it understood in the books itself? In my opinion, it was an opportunity missed.

There would have been some backlash. But that’s okay. It’s the last book. People aren’t going to stop reading, right before the grand finale.

Imagine an entire genration growing up, idiolising a hero, who turns out to be gay and it still doesn’t matter. That’s how you normalise homosexuality.

Look, I get the argument that the reason it wasn’t explicit in the books was that it didn’t matter. 

The problem is it was never convincingly hinted at either. So what if Dumbledore and Grindelwald exchanged letters when they were young!

I will make this a lot simpler. That fact would have had so much more weight if it had been in the books. And no, I am not saying that she needed to make him ‘feminine’ or ‘wear pink’. Because those are just stupid stereotypes.

 If you were wondering, J.K. Rowling actually has a response to this. 

But so does Captain Raymond Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Holt’s gay. It’s not canon. It’s a fact. 

It doesn’t show up when he does his job. His relationship with Kevin is not even that important. But establishing him as a gay character gives it more weight. 

I am as much a Harry Potter fan as the next person reading this. And for years, I have applauded Rowling for effectively portraying racism, slavery and marginalisation of communities. 

Establishing Dumbledore’s sexuality in the books could have made a lasting impact not just to the story, but in people’s lives as well. Especially in the light of all the horrific situations that they have to suffer every day.