Fans have criticized news that Albus
Dumbledore's sexuality won't be explored in the upcoming film
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Dumbledore figures prominently in the
Harry Potter series by author JK Rowling. In 2007, she said
that Dumbledore was gay and that as a young man he had fallen in love
with Grindelwald.
“I always thought of Dumbledore as
gay. Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald, and that added to his
horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was,” she
said.
Jude Law will portray a young
Dumbledore in the incoming film.
Director David Yates was recently asked
whether the film will explore Dumbledore's sexuality.
“Not explicitly,” Yates
told Entertainment
Weekly. “But I think all the fans are aware of that. 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 reacted negatively to the news.
“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,” wrote @homosexualsnape
on Twitter.
“IT'S 2018 LMAO GET IT TOGETHER,”
tweeted @dreamoforgonon.