J. K. Rowling is at it again with her revisionism of her own books. In an interview added to the blu-ray edition of The Crimes of Grindlewald, she said that longstanding characters Dumbledore and Grindlewald had a 'love relationship ... with a sexual dimension'.
This is far from the first time Rowling has been called out for taking credit for representation she never actually included in her books or the movies that were based on them. There are many elements about this that annoy me.
I'm angry on behalf of a younger self who would have so valued an openly gay character in one of my favourite book series. There's also the fact it seems that Rowling essentially wants to be praised for queerbaiting Harry Potter fans, and for creating a character who would've spent his entire life closeted.
But as a queer writer, what perhaps annoys me the most is that this comment reignites the debate about subtext that is or isn't there in the original Harry Potter series and associated Harry Potter media, while at the same time there are so many brilliant queer books that don't get nearly as much time or attention as they should.
Though there is definitely a rise in LGBTQ+ novels and people who want to hear more LGBTQ+ voices, queer young adult fiction can sometimes face gatekeepers, particularly when the author themself is queer.
This gatekeeping can happen at various levels. Chain and department stores that won't stock or promote books that are 'controversial'. Editors who ask for characters to be straight or to tone down the queerness. Parents and other adults who won't buy queer books for their kids.
Public and school libraries that won't stock a book with queer characters, and educators who won't be put queer books on the curriculum or on reading guides. Schools who won't ask an author to talk about their work or, in the case of Will Kostakis, cancel his talk because it was deemed 'inappropriate' after he came out on his blog. And in extreme cases, around the world books are still being challenged or banned.
"What I want now is for Rowling to use her platform to shine a light on queer authors while accepting her own books' place in history as flawed texts."
On top of all that, it's not uncommon to hear that queer authors will self-censor their works in fear that their books won't succeed because of these