Is everybody an IDIOT?

tmatt at GetReligion sets it up nicely here:

In case you have been on another planet for a few days, J.K. Rowling had an interesting exchange with a fan the other night during a question-and-answer session at Carnegie Hall. She was asked:

“Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself?”

She answered: “My truthful answer to you . . . I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.”

This, of course, followed very closely on her recent MTV revelations about the role that her Christian faith played in shaping much of the symbolism and many of the primary themes in the mega-series. Click here for a previous post by young master Daniel Pulliam on that topic, or here and here for my most recent columns on the various stances that Christians have taken — pro and con — on the Harry Potter novels.

Well, the story has moved on, in large part because the mainstream press wants to know (a) if the Dumbledore news represents an endorsement of gay causes by Rowling and (b) if this statement will provoke many conservative religious believers to renew their attacks on her books.

Did anybody notice the disconnect in Rawling’s quoted response? What, may I ask, does Dumbledore’s gayness have to do with the question? Does she not think gays fall in love? Or worse, is she intentionally failing to give recognition to that?

As the press makes speculation on Rawling’s liberal leanings, I’m thinking just the opposite - I read the answer as coming from someone deeply homophobic.