Harry Potter and some of my Syracuse Education

Dumbledore is a bad representative of the gay community. It’s a bad image.

Wait, what?
As a Time article recently explained, Dumbledore is not a good representative of the gay community because he is not very gay in the book series or the movies. He is characterized by a relationship-less life with an eerie relationship with a teenage boy. Not a healthy or positive that the role model that the queer community wants.
Because the overtly flamboyant, does-nothing-with-his-life, sex-driven image of Jack from Will and Grace—that’s POSITIVE.
I don’t think it’s fair to think that there’s going to be some ideal image of a queer person that every individual is going to be okay with, but I think that Dumbledore is a fine role model and image. Okay, so he’s not apparently gay in either the books or the movies. Who cares? Neither Professor McGonnagall nor Professor Snape is overtly heterosexual. In this hetero-normative world, people don’t care about people’s love lives…until they’re gay. Just as Sedgewick argues in her piece, Epistemology of the Closet, sexuality is private, until an individual is found to be queer. The fact that Dumbledore does not seem to have any love interest throughout the series or his special relationship with Harry did not raise too many eyebrows when he was believed to be straight. He is simply a powerful wizard who had dedicated his life to empowering young witches and wizards, especially one who proves to be highly important and special. But as soon as you factor in his sexuality, he suddenly becomes a pervert with a sick relationship with a pupil, or a weak gay role model because he doesn’t have any romantic relationships.
I am actually inclined that Dumbledore is a fine image for the queer community. He is a strong and distinguished individual who has only achieved amazing things.
Even more so I think it is a good image because there is lack of focus on his sexuality. I fear that people want to see a strong queer individual whose sexuality is pronounce and very public. But doesn’t that only highlight the idea that he is different? NOT normal? Maybe I have the wrong idea about this but I think it stresses the normalcy of queer sexuality. It forces people out of their hetero-normative ideals that you can’t automatically assume that someone is straight because his love life is private. It forces you to realize that you can’t assume anything about anyone. Everyone is individual and unique. Don’t assume. Who knows, Dumbledore is a very educated and philosophical man. He may have studied Foucault and just as Foucault refused to identify as gay or queer, Dumbledore realized the limitations of identifying himself and chose to live his life as himself, whomever he chose that to be.