Dumbledore was gay?

Okay, so I'm only seven years or so behind the times in this, but just the other night I caught part of a television program where J.K. Rowling was talking with Daniel Radcliff, and she said sort of offhandedly that Dumbledore was gay, mentionong that there had been a line in the script of one of the films which had Dumbledore waxing rhapsodic about some beautiful woman, and she had insisted that the line be changed, saying something to the scriptwriter like "You know Dumbledore's gay, right?"



Prior to creating this thread, I Googled "Dumbledore is gay" and discovered that Rowling had first announced/leaked Dumbledore's sexual orientation back in 2007. I'm not sure why I hadn't heard about it until now, but here are some thoughts and questions:



1. Why can't a gay man wax rhapsodic about a woman?



Of course they can, and many of them do from time to time, although it is more in an appreciation of beauty than in the lustful way that perhaps a straight man would wax rhapsodic about the same woman.



2. Why would Rowling announce this?



Was it for publicity? (like she needed more?)



3. Was Ian McKellan cast as Dumbledore partly because McKellan is gay?



I have several more questions, but will let it go at that.



Your thoughts?

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