I will state a certain bias right at the outset, actually a set of two biases.

My first is that I tend to perceive ‘gay’ everywhere. By and large, someone - and sometimes something - is gay/queer/homosexual until proven otherwise. I have always carried a particularly queer perspective on the world, viewing it very much from my reality as a gay man and often simply assume others are like me.

This, of course, can create some interesting scenarios where male acquaintances, less frequently female acquaintances, have to “come out” to me as straight. I am not always surprised, I grant you there are a few individuals I have harboured suspicions about but of course just never said anything to them. But there have been times when their declaration of having a fondness for T&A as opposed to, oh I don’t know, D&A or even P&A (Dicks and Ass and Pecs and Ass, respectively) has completely broadsided me and I have needed to totally retool my perceptions and understandings of the individual.

My second bias is my knowledge of the world of Harry Potter is based entirely on the film series as well as on the genre of literature dealing with British public (i.e. private) schools and my own brief involvement in the British school system. I have not read J. K. Rowling’s books, and so lack much of the back story edited out of the films.

My delight with the films has as much to do with the storyline as with the wonderfully gothic sets and clever sight tricks: flying Vanguard cars, sentient paintings, constantly changing landscape and seasons where it can be summer one minute, winter the next, then back to summer, interactive ghosts that are simply part of the experience of living at Hogwarts, and the unquestioning acceptance of baby dragons, temperamental hippogriffs, and other fantastic creatures.

So, when Rowling recently announced Hogwarts’ Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was gay my reaction was more along the lines of “this is news?” rather than along the lines of some incredible secret being revealed after the series was done.

Hogwarts is an alternative universe. It’s a magical, wizardy, insulated world separate from the world of Muggles (non-magical humans), somewhat Medieval in many ways, a Grimm Brothers world come to life.

All the instructors swirl around in voluminous robes, tend towards the dramatic flourish, are a bit eccentric even by wizard standards apparently, and all seem to harbour some sort of special knowledge that, one suspects, has nothing to do with spells or potions. I mean, good grief, if Dumbledore is gay what is one to make of Snape? That wizard virtually reeks of Vicious Imperious Queen.

Of course, following Rowling’s announcement, Potter fans everywhere will be going back to the books and re-reading them yet again, trying to find clues to Albus Dumbledore’s inner emotional life, his relationship with his boyhood friend, Grindelwald (a particularly Grimm’s Fairytale sort of name; quite Germanic), and to discover any foreshadowing of Dumbledore’s homosexuality. Not to appear cynical, but of course many others will now be going out to purchase the books to try and accomplish the same thing. Rowling is a savvy marketer.

The Harry Potter series has long been interpreted as allegory. I think it probably is, as well as a rousing good yarn. What that allegory might be depends on who seeks it.

Some see it as a commentary on world politics, others as a celebration of non-conformity against bourgeois values (Muggles, after all, are about as suffocatingly British middle-class as one can get) – a sort of anti-Thatcher thesis. Now, with Dumbledore being dragged out of the closet post-mortem and essentially outed by his creator, allegorists will be reading ‘gay’ into everything within the walls of Hogwarts and the land in which the ancient castle school is situated. I don’t happen to think this is a bad thing, myself. We all yearn for a homo homeland on some level, so if Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry is to be it, I can live with that.

For those who have seen the films, of course, none of this comes as a terrible surprise.

The décor of Hogwarts alone is pretty much gay. I remember seeing a piece on Cher’s home in Architectural Digest not that many years ago, during her upscale neo-goth period, where her entire house was wrought iron candelabras, heavy gilt mirrors, over-the-top brocaded upholstery and cushions, medievalist wall sconces, tapestries and damask draperies, and heavy oak furniture, with lots of purple, black, and red. Not quite camp, but pretty close.

Dumbledore’s study, the various House common rooms, the dormitories, and the various quarters for the different Masters are chocker block full of what Victorian-era citizens referred to as “oddities;” crystals, grotesqueries, stuffed animals, collections of all sorts, along with textiles such as tapestries, brocaded velvet table covers, billowing curtains, thick heavy drapes, ornate screens, Orientalist knick knacks, huge collections of dusty, leather bound volumes arranged within ornately carved oak bookcases or stacked on tables, side tables, desks, stools, chairs, and bureaus – all quite Versace in its exuberance and very, very gay! Liberace would have loved it.

Is the outing of Dumbledore important, though? Does it have any impact on what it is to be queer in modern culture? Some media have dismissed all this as akin to the contrived controversy around Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie or the Teletubbies’ Tinky Winky. Who cares if a fictional character is gay, lesbian, trans, bi, or straight? Does sexuality have any place in imaginary realms? Especially in books geared to children?

Well, I think the answer is yes, sexuality – or more correctly sexual orientation – does have a place in such literature. Nobody blinked twice when Hermione got all twitter-pated over that Romanian wizard hunk who was at Hogwart’s during the Tri-Wizard Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (well, Ron got a bit snotted out…). It was treated, as it should have been, as a natural evolution in the development of a teenaged character.

The thing is, we rarely see or read any comparable storyline for gay characters. Falling in love, developing that first crush, the mooning and angst such emotions often create in adolescents are all part of any story aimed at that demographic, and it is something such readers can relate to.

For those of who are gay or lesbian, however, we soon develop a talent for reading between the lines in an attempt to see something of ourselves reflected in the stories we knew while growing up. We simply are not there or, if we are, suddenly the story arc is primarily about being gay or lesbian and the trials and tribulations of that discovery. That’s fine, there is amble fodder for stories in the coming out experience, but certainly in my own adolescent and early 20-something readings, I never came across any queer characters whose queerness simply was a part of who they were, just as Hermione’s budding heterosexuality and growing awareness of her interest in boys was a part of who she was.

I “read” Harry and Ron as potential boyfriends, to be honest. At least, I read Ron that way, pining for Harry, jealous, possessive of his time and focus, often upset and morose when he isn’t being paid enough attention by Harry and feeling taken for granted by him.

Some would read Malfoy as gay, what with his sneering simpering, his slicked back hair and pale wan complexion. Certainly Malfoy Senior is awfully fey, with his flowing white-blond hair cascading down between his shoulders and his capes, but these characters are stock British School Days stereotypes. Malfoy Senior is simply a version of the Dastardly Villain (“Curses! Foiled again!!”) with his capes and twirling moustache. In this instance, however, the twirling moustache has been replaced with flowing blond locks. Malfoy Jr. is the classic upper class twit/snob/bully (his family is, after all, Pure Bloods) who surrounds himself with simple-minded sycophants.

Professor Snape, as already alluded to, is pretty gay and a tad too interested in schoolboys, which in turn, is a tad too creepy. He has obvious favourites upon whom he lavishes attention and is not above “fixing” things to their benefit. Of course, honour and integrity as epitomized by Harry, Ron, and Hermione always wins the day over Snape’s machinations. It doesn’t lessen the Dark Arts Master’s queenery any.

Actually, Snape as well as the Malfoy are an interesting example of just how “gay” is often coded in literature and film. It may not ever be directly mentioned, but such characters are often portrayed as sinister, oily, creeping about getting up to heaven-knows-what, involved in some sort of knowledge beyond that of the heroes, some sort of access to a secret life. And they always get their comeuppance in the end.

So, having the wise, gentle, loving Headmaster Dumbledore as gay – and by that I mean more clearly gay in the stories themselves – would serve as counterpoint to the Snapes and Malfoys.

Hogwarts is a realm of magic and wonder where anything is possible, even positively gay wizard headmasters.