It’s Not about Wanting Everyone to Be Gay

[Recently, I wrote some thoughts about fans wanting there to be non-heterosexual characters and/or same-sex couples in a book series they love.  In it, I finally wrote some thoughts that I have wanted to express for a long time, so I decided to post it here as well.

Here’s some background on what prompted me to write this.  I have a Harry Potter-themed blog on Tumblr called Hermione’s Bookshelf.[1]  (I mostly use it for posting quotes and commenting on other people’s photo/graphic entries.  A longer post, like the one below, is rare there.)  There is a Tumblr blog called Harry Potter Confessions[2] and a related one called Harry Potter Shipping Confessions.[3]  People submit confessions about their views on the Harry Potter series.  Most are posted anonymously with an accompanying graphic.

Last week there was a confession on Harry Potter Confessions that read, “It always bugged me that Dumbledore is the only openly gay character in the series.  If the Harry Potter series is about tolerance and acceptance, JK Rowling could have done a much better job showing the importance of those things by having one of the students not be straight.”[4]  I reblogged it and wrote the entry that is reposted below.[5]  (When I refer to “the confessor”, I’m referring to the person who submitted this first confession, because the entry was originally written in response to them.)

There was a confession on Harry Potter Shipping Confessions that read, “I hate how heteronormative the Potterverse it.  Dumbledore’s sexuality seemed tacked on after the fact.  It would have been nice to have one queer canon couple.  That’s one of the biggest reasons why so many of my OTPs are queer couples; I want to see my sexuality reflected in the series I love so much.”[6]  I reblogged it and reposted the section that is in bold below.[7]

This is a topic I have been thinking about for quite a while, and I think posting this is a good way to start blogging about it.  This obviously contains examples from Harry Potter, but I think the general idea can apply to any fandom.]

I partially agree with this confessor.  We don’t know if Dumbledore is openly gay in wizarding society, as it is never mentioned.  However, I do think that if a student had been gay and if there was actually a happy same-sex relationship (instead of one boy having a crush on someone who ended up being evil) that would have been a good message of tolerance and acceptance.

Some of the responses to this confessor bother me, because people are just dismissing the confessor by saying that the story is not about sexuality, it’s not important to the story, etc.  (There are so many confessions about people wanting to change a certain aspect of the story, and I don’t see why this particular type of confession is wrong or insulting to the author if the others are not.)

Obviously, the series is not about sexuality or romance.  Actually, as I don’t really like romance novels, I’m glad that Rowling was able to include the romance in the stories without having them take over the story.  (For example, we see Ron and Hermione’s interaction with each other throughout the books up to their getting together, but it’s not the main point of the story.)  I don’t see why it is that when someone wishes a character was gay, people respond by saying, “The story is not about sexuality.”  Of course it’s not, but if heterosexual couples can be included without their romance taking over the story, then same-sex couples can also be included without their romance taking over the story.  The story doesn’t have to be all about them being gay.

It’s not about wanting everyone to be gay and/or monitoring all stories to make sure there’s always a gay character.  It’s about the fact that people want to read a book and see people from their group represented, especially if it’s a book with a main theme of tolerance and equality and they’re a member of a group that’s discriminated against.  (I’ve heard people say very often that they are bookish and know that often girls are not portrayed as intelligent in the media, so they are glad that Hermione is in the story.  People also often say that they identify with Luna because she helped them accept being different.  It’s kind of similar to that.)  This becomes even more true when people see that many books, tv shows, movies, intentionally exclude members of their group to avoid controversy.  To be clear, I don’t think Rowling was intentionally excluding gay people.  It’s that the combination of people who intentionally exclude gay characters and people who just didn’t happen to have a gay character in their books leads to a situation in which gay people might feel like they’re rarely included.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I love the Harry Potter series.  The idea that I would love it less just because of this is absurd.  I just want people to understand that, for people who [are] members of a group that’s discriminated against and is the target of many negative stereotypes, seeing a character who’s a part of their group in a book they love gives them hope.[8]

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Acknowledgements and Notes

Many thanks to the people who run the blogs Harry Potter Confessions and Harry Potter Shipping Confessions and to the people who submitted the confessions I’ve quoted above.

The second confession, referring to the heteronormative Potterverse, was originally credited to anonymous, but after I reblogged it, Ashley (of Lead On, Oh Kinky Turtle) reblogged from me and wrote that she had submitted it.[9]

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References

[1] Hermione’s Bookshelf can be found at http://hermionesbookshelf.wordpress.com.

[2] Harry Potter Confession can be found at http://harrypotterconfessions.tumblr.com.

[3] Harry Potter Shipping Confessions can be found at http://harrypottershippingconfessions.tumblr.com.

[4] Posted at Harry Potter Confessions on about 22 August 2011.  Retrieved on 28 August 2011 from http://harrypotterconfessions.tumblr.com/post/9247254699/graphic-submitted.

[5] Sharmin, Ani.  Posted at Hermione’s Bookshelf on 22 August 2011.  Retrieved on 28 August 2011 from http://hermionesbookshelf.tumblr.com/post/9250204857/reblog-other-characters-besides-dumbledore-being-gay.

[6] Posted on 23 August 2011 at Harry Potter Shipping Confessions.  Retrieved on 28 August 2011 from http://harrypottershippingconfessions.tumblr.com/post/9285380814.

[7] Sharmin, Ani.  Posted on 25 August 2011.  Retrieved on 28 August 28, 2011 from http://hermionesbookshelf.tumblr.com/post/9389689704/reblog-heteronormative-potterverse.

[8] Same as #5

[9] Ashley.  Posted at Kinky Turtle on 26 August 2011.  Retrieved on 28 August 2011 from http://kinkyturtle.tumblr.com/post/9436909374/reblog-heteronormative-potterverse.

A Letter of Thanks to Johann Hari

[Columnist Johann Hari recently wrote an article about homophobia in Islam. It was specifically about Britain but, I think, applicable to other parts of the world as well. I decided to write him an email to express my gratitude. I was hesitant to share the email, due to some personal content, but decided that it was important to do so.]

Dear Mr. Hari:

My name is Sharmin, and I am writing to thank you for writing Can we talk about Muslim homophobia now? I am an atheist from a Muslim family living in United States. I’m also gay. My parents do not know, but I do try to keep up hope for the future, as they greatly value education (especially in science), have encouraged me go to school so I can be independent, have been realizing some of the pitfalls of arranged marriages, and get along with people of different religions. I am still concerned about what they might think, as they still hold on to some ideas which I consider incorrect or problematic, and I feel terribly for the people you described in your article who have had to deal with bigotry and hostility from others close to them.

The part in your article about younger Muslims having even more extreme views than their parents was especially troubling. I know some of my fellow college students are very religiously conservative and others have more moderate religious beliefs that incorporate secular knowledge. Even some who are very kind and generous, who would never hurt anyone, still hold some questionable views when homosexuality is mentioned. It seems that there are those who have not had their religious beliefs challenged, despite their education and good grades, because school teachers and administrators are reluctant to teach correct information out of fear of angry religious parents. I agree with your suggestion that schools should be teaching that homosexuality is natural.

One of the reasons your article gave me hope is because it reminded me that there are people who speak up for equal rights for different groups of people. For a long time, I have felt frustrated by the fact that many people’s reactions to discriminatory beliefs within Islam has been either to ignore the problem or to discriminate against immigrants. I have felt that the people who actually care about equal rights for everyone are not heard—that one side wanted to discriminate against me because my parents are immigrants and the other side was unwilling to consider that there are problems with Islam. Over the past few years, I have realized that there are people out there who are speaking out against the bigotry supported by religions without advocating discrimination against members of those religions (or against people whose families are from countries where those religions are powerful). Thank you for reminding me of that and for being one of the people doing this.

I hope I have expressed my gratitude clearly and that you know that there are people who appreciate what you have written. Thank you again.

Sincerely yours,

Ani Sharmin

“We do not need magic to save the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” (J. K Rowling, The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, Harvard University Commencement Address, June 2008)

“Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons.” (J. K. Rowling, For Girls Only, Probably…)

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Notes

1. If you are LGBTQI and feel upset or alone, please keep up hope and know that you’re not alone. For anyone who is bullied or feels different, visit the It Gets Better Project website[1] and watch the videos there. Rebecca Drysdale’s entry for the project was a song called It Gets Better,[2] and listening to it makes me happy.

2. Yes, that is actually the signature I append to the end of my emails.

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Edit (as of 18 February 2012)

Last year, Johann Hari admitted to plagiarism. I’m adding this edit to say that I do not condone his behavior; what he did was wrong. I’m leaving this entry here because, even though he did something wrong, the email contains some of my own views about Islam and homosexuality that I want to still be available for others to read.

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References

[1] It Gets Better Project official website. Retrieved on April 4, 2011 from http://www.itgetsbetter.org/.

[2] Drysdale, Rebecca. It gets better—–a music video by rebecca drysdale. Uploaded on YouTube by beckdrys on January 4, 2011. Retrieved on April 4, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTQNwMxqM3E.

Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In

The United States House of Representatives and Senate have voted in favor of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.[1] It is expected that President Obama will sign the bill, since he has expressed his support for the appeal.  Words cannot express how happy I am right now.  This is an historic moment.  Homosexual and bisexual soldiers will be able to serve our country without fearing that they will be discharged due to their sexual orientation.  Our soldiers protect us, and it is only right that they should be treated fairly.

There are, of course, those who see progress in equal rights as dangerous and favor discrimination; they should be considered immoral human beings by all those who favor equal rights for all.  Those who support discrimination against soldiers don’t “support our troops”; they exclusively support only some soldiers and not others.  One of the most common arguments used in favor of discrimination is that it would hurt “unit cohesion”.  Whenever I hear this claim, I think to myself that the person who is citing “unit cohesion” is implying one of two things:  either (a) that non-heterosexual people are not capable of being good soldiers or (b) that soldiers are bigots who would not be willing to serve alongside a person with a different sexual orientation than theirs.  Either way, it’s an insult to the people in our armed forces.  This isn’t about disagreeing with politicians about specific foreign policy decisions; a person who believes that being sexually attracted to people of the same gender should disqualify a person for military service is insulting the actual soldiers themselves.

Imagine — if you will — the soldiers who are currently serving our country.  Imagine how they must feel being away from their families for such a long time.  Now imagine how concerned their loved ones are for them, how relived their loved ones are to see them again, how devastated the loved ones of dead soldiers are to attend a funeral, how dedicated the loved ones of injured soldiers are to helping them recover.  Do you really feel less sympathy if the soldier was homosexual or bisexual?  Does the gender of the person who greets them when they come home or the person who cries over their grave really matter?

Moving forward, there are still many more battles to win.  There is still much hatred against LGBTQI people in the United States and around the world.  Parents erroneously claim that equal rights will harm their children, religious leaders (seeming delusional) claim that homosexual sex causes the Almighty to punish entire nations, and politicians can actual gain support by promising to pass discriminatory laws against LGBTQI people.  Marriage equality, ending employment discrimination, and preventing bullying are just some of the goals we have yet to accomplish.

Yet, despite all this, I am happy today.  The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction.  As a supporter of equal rights for LGBTQI people, I have grown accustomed to the slow pace of progress and the many setbacks, but today is a good day.  Remember to keep up hope, and remember justice will win out in the end.

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References

[1] Hulse, Carl.  Senate Repeals Ban Against Openly Gay Military Personnel.  Posted on December 18, 2010 in The New York Times.  Retrieved on December 19, 2010 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/us/politics/19cong.html.