Harry Potter is a beloved book and film series that has brought so much joy to so many kids and adults in the world. But one thing people don't seem to happy about is the lack of real queer representation in the "Wizarding World."
In an interview for the special features on the BluRay release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Rowling, yet again, confirms that there is definitely some sexual tension between characters Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. According to the Rowling Library, she said in the interview, "Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship."
"But as happens in any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label we want to put on it, one never knows really what the other person is feeling. You can't know, you can believe you know," she continued. "So I'm less interested in the sexual side – though I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship – than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationship."
J.K. Rowling spoke about Dumbledore and Grindelwald's relationship: "Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship." (Continue)
— The Rowling Library (@rowlinglibrary) March 17, 2019
"But as happens in any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label we want to put on it, one never knows really what the other person is feeling. You can’t know, you can believe you know." (Continue)
— The Rowling Library (@rowlinglibrary) March 17, 2019
"So I’m less interested in the sexual side – though I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship – than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationship."
— The Rowling Library (@rowlinglibrary) March 17, 2019
But while many were happy to hear these words come from the lips of the magical creator herself, a lot of fans were also angered by the fact that this queer representation she speaks of is never explicitly shown in either the books, or the movies. Some Tweeters are calling her out for her "performative activism," and for basically creating her own fan fiction. User @lauraw97_ wrote, "jk rowling can log on here and tweet 'dumbledore was a dom top' all she likes but the fact remains she actively leaves out any LGBT rep in her books and films so her profit isn't affected."
"I'm sick of Rowling and her half-assed inclusivity. It doesn't count if she's telling us after the fact. That's not being an ally. That's trying to get brownie points," said user @Femme_Queer. "She loses nothing this way. Put it in the text or don't talk about it all. Same thing with Hermione's race."
Read some of the angry — and some of the seriously hilarious — Twitter reactions below"
J.K. Rowling Confirms Some Characters in Her Books and Movies Are Gay Everywhere Except in the Books or the Movies https://t.co/Y5gcbMWNB9
— Eric D. Snider (@EricDSnider) March 16, 2019
jk rowling reappearing every 2 months to say something literally no one asked about is me adding more random details to my essay to up my word count https://t.co/70D37Xez76
— 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝓃𝒶 (@DAREDEVllLS) March 17, 2019
us: can we get the marau-
— amy (@rlandsbindaclub) March 17, 2019
jk rowling: no
us: but
jk rowling: the restricted section of hogwarts was restricted because that's where dumbledore hid his gay erotica
Me: “H-
— Daniel Sugarman (@Daniel_Sugarman) March 17, 2019
JK: “Hagrid is a furry.”
Me: ?
JK: “Snape has spent much of his life trying to recreate the mythical Viagrus potion.”
Me: “Wait...”
JK: “LUCIUS MALFOY USED TO THROW SEX ORGIES AT THE MANSION AND HE’D MAKE DOBBY WEAR A GIMP MASK” https://t.co/mHempGp8Fp
No one: ....
— HOOD VOGUE (@itskeyon) March 17, 2019
Jk Rowling in 2030: Voldemort was a depressed gay man of color
us: actual queer representation in the books!
— men r trash :/ (@captinmarvel) March 17, 2019
jk rowling: https://t.co/MT9YFYKMzd
I'm sick of Rowling and her half-assed inclusivity. It doesn't count if she's telling us after the fact. That's not being an ally. That's trying to get brownie points. She loses nothing this way. Put it in the text or don't talk about it all. Same thing with Hermione's race.
— 🍀 Lucky Femme | Not a woman 🍀 (@Femme_Queer) March 17, 2019
The thing that bothers me most about Rowling going into the “intense sexual relationship” of Dumbledore and Grindewald is that after being criticized for glossing over queer characters except in interviews, she reduced calls for real queer rep to “give us kinky sex details!”
— Exorcising Emily (@exorcisingemily) March 17, 2019
Like, way to miss the point and undermine everything you COULD have done to rectify the mistake of leaving Dumbledore’s orientation out of canon. This further reduces queer relationships and queer characters just to sex in media commentary. Which is the last thing we needed.
— Exorcising Emily (@exorcisingemily) March 17, 2019
Somehow the only thing worse than JK Rowling not including explicit queerness in the narrative is JK Rowling including explicit queerness in the narrative.
— Queer Eye for the Animorphs Reboot (@JacksonEflin) March 17, 2019
jk rowling can log on here and tweet “dumbledore was a dom top” all she likes but the fact remains she actively leaves out any LGBT rep in her books and films so her profit isn’t affected
— laura (@lauraw97_) March 17, 2019
it’s performative activism that allows her to present herself as progressive while keeping her films ‘family friendly’ for the bigots that would undoubtedly kick off at the presence of a gay character
— laura (@lauraw97_) March 17, 2019
Why doesn't J.K. Rowling write a new novel with actual queer characters?
— cybernetic wife (@ellieisalright) March 17, 2019
Oh wait, she did, and said queer character was an angry, overly masculine trans woman whom the protagonist makes prison rape jokes about.
Why have we not boycotted her yet?
ok jk rowling actually didn't say anywhere in the bluray feature that it was incredibly horny or anything but like.....the sheer cringiness of her damage control rn that she offhandedly mentions a "sexual dimension" is just....off the charts
— Klaudia Amenábar #SaveODAAT (@kaludiasays) March 17, 2019
if she were just a creator talking about a complex relationships between two characters this would be fine but she's literally just spinning fanfic of her own characters on the fly on the bluray special features to cover her ass jfc
— Klaudia Amenábar #SaveODAAT (@kaludiasays) March 17, 2019
jk rowling: oh btw dumbledore is gay
— Klaudia Amenábar #SaveODAAT (@kaludiasays) March 17, 2019
everyone: oh, worm, where in the books?
jk rowling: nowhere, i just made it so
everyone: well that's bullshit
jk rowling: uh *throws darts at a board* well it's ABSOLUTELY 100% gay if he fucked for sure right
everyone, exhausted: please stop
imagine writing a series that deals with the way the adults you look up to can turn out to be actually Not Great People who actively harm kids with by clinging to and reinforcing problematic views and then............deciding to be living example of that. amazing.
— Rebecca Mix (@rebeccarmix) March 17, 2019
Image via Getty