J.K. Rowling Responds To Fan Complaints That Dumbledore Will Not Be ‘Explicitly’ Gay In New Film

A few Harry Potter fans are upset over the fact that Albus Dumbledore will not be “explicitly” gay in the newest Fantastic Beasts film.

J.K. ROWLING REPSONDS ABOUT DUMBLEDORE SEXUALITY

Author J.K. Rowling said in 2007 that the character was gay, despite there never being an indication of such in the novels. She defended the decision in 2015 when a fan tweeted that they just “can’t see him in that way” – Rowling responded, “Maybe because gay people just look like… people?”

Now Dumbledore is being featured in the film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and fans were excited by the prospect of seeing a young, openly gay Dumbledore. They were sorely disappointed when director David Yates told Entertainment Weekly that the subject of the wizard’s sexuality would not be “explicitly” discussed. “But I think all the fans are aware of that,” he said. “He had a very intense relationship with Grindelwald when they were young men. They fell in love with each other’s ideas and ideology and each other.”

Fans are now crying out and wondering why the films won’t just accept and show that Dumbledore was gay. Some are even questioning Rowling’s decision to announce Dumbledore’s sexuality in the first place. “If it isn’t obvious by now: Rowling said Dumbledore was gay those years ago purely to try and avoid backlash for not having enough diversity. She never said anything about it in the actual series, and now won’t again in fantastic beasts,” wrote on Twitter user.

Others are crying foul that in 2018, openly gay characters should be far more common than they are. “IT’S 2018 LMAO GET IT TOGETHER,” wrote another fan. Some fans are trying to reason that a 20th century character wouldn’t be openly gay, but one user points out that if “you can accept three headed dogs, invisibility cloaks, and Aberforth’s ‘affinity’ for goats,” then an openly gay man should not be that difficult to get behind.

Despite the fact that Rowling was not involved in the Entertainment Weekly interview, she is still receiving significant backlash for the director’s decision. She addressed the issue on Twitter using a funny GIF of rapper Lil Yachty pressing mute on a TV remote. “Being sent abuse about an interview that didn’t involve me, about a screenplay I wrote but which none of the angry people have read, which is part of a five-movie series that’s only one instalment in, is obviously tons of fun, but you know what’s even *more* fun?” she said.

While some of her Twitter followers responded, arguing if “muting” fans in the proper way to handle this issue, one person in particular seemed to agree with the sentiment. Monica Lewinsky replied with a photo that simply said, “Muting is magic.”

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald hits theaters Nov. 18.