I got all excited reading the comments until they took that sadly inevitable nosedive. I mean, there was the overtly negative "OMG NO TEH GHEYS ARE GROSS!" comments, which I somehow find I can't get all that worked up over these days. Maybe just because I already know they're a lost cause, maybe because they're clearly too set in their beliefs, I couldn't say.

It was the comments from seemingly well-meaning people that incensed. Or, you know, not well-meaning people, but people who didn't seem to mean that GAYS ARE ICKY, but were clearly ignorant in other ways. Comments like, "Well, I'm glad he never came on to Harry!" or the confusing (paraphrased), "So he had to keep it a secret from Harry and treats theirs as just a father-son relationship," (which, I.. what?) I was glad to see just as many people chiming in with, "Well, I'm glad Snape didn't come on to Hermione!" or similarly snarky comments. I started in over there myself, but I suspect I'll tire of it soon.

I know that I wouldn't have assumed Dumbledore was intended to be written as gay, simply because of the rather stuffy, heteronormative outlook it had (then) appeared Rowling was taking toward interpretations of her characters. And I'm glad to be proven wrong on that front. Still, for heaven's sake, it's telling that no one saw the girly posters on Sirius' wall and wailed, "OMG I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW HE WAS STRAIGHT!" Well, except the slashers. Heck, one could argue that we "needed" to know Harry's and Draco's sexualities just because of who they ended up with (which is pretty circular logic but anyway)--but Sirius doesn't even have that justification for having his orientation vocalized, or strongly implied. I say we should be harping on that!