# "Harry Potter = flaming queer" says Rev. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 6, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085 "2005-10-06T19:04:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/21 "2005-10-06T20:48:19Z")
All I know is that if I were both 17 and the World’s Most Powerful Wizard, I’d damn well be fucking somebody with that combo of hormones and magic mojo. Hence, Harry Potter is clearly **ASEXUAL**. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/22 "2005-10-06T21:36:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, it seemed like the Rev. was insulting Harry Potter by calling him gay, which is at least mildly homophobic. But I think **Amok** has nailed down what he was really trying to say. I didn’t read it as calling him gay. Daffyd thinks he’s special because he’s ‘the only gay in the village’; only he isn’t. So the Rev. was saying that Harry Potter isn’t the only wizard in town. **Larry Mudd** : That’s one of the more annoying characters. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/23 "2005-10-06T21:46:57Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > All I know is that if I were both 17 and the World’s Most Powerful Wizard… To be fair, he’s hardly the World’s MostPowerful Wizard. World’s Luckiest Wizard is more like it. He does have that scar, though. Don’t chicks dig scars? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/24 "2005-10-06T21:56:04Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > To be fair, he’s hardly the World’s MostPowerful Wizard. World’s Luckiest Wizard is more like it. > > He does have that scar, though. Don’t chicks dig scars? He can _levitate things_, for crying out loud. He can _fly_. But he can’t fuck? Come on. Oysters, snails, I don’t care, the boy should be porking _somebody_ by now if he had the slightest interest. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/25 "2005-10-06T22:00:06Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > He’s not gay, he’s just British. 😉 > \ OK, that made me laugh. But only because I have a lot of british friends. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/26 "2005-10-06T22:19:21Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I didn’t read it as calling him gay. Daffyd thinks he’s special because he’s ‘the only gay in the village’; only he isn’t. So the Rev. was saying that Harry Potter isn’t the only wizard in town. Yes, like I said, I agree with **Amok** ’s post. It’s just that the way the Rev. phrased it, it sounded like he was saying, “Harry’s a homo.” ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/27 "2005-10-06T22:39:14Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > [Link](http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/10/06/potter.gay.reut/index.html) > > Yep. Gotta love the homophobic preachers. > What the fuck is this guy’s problem? Apparently his problem is not with witchcraft, but the fact that he sees Potter as gay. > > Where the hell did this come from? > > Isn’t Harry Potter supposed to be pre-pubescent? How can he be gay? So what if he is? Who gives a shit? You’ve made a bit of an arse of yourself, haven’t you, **CynicalGabe**? Such a shame you don’t get to wave around the homophobic-preacher banner this time. Twit. Also, Harry is about 17 years old by the end of the current book. That’s not exactly pre-pubescent even in England, yanno. Twit[sup]3[/sup]. This is your cue to post again and say “Oops. I was wrong. Silly me.” :rolleyes: ::crickets:: ---
**Author:** ![aamco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@aamco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aamco)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/28 "2005-10-06T22:44:04Z")
Why is it that preachers can always see homoerotic subtexts in children’s books while the rest of us can’t? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/29 "2005-10-06T22:48:01Z")
You must have been mising a gene from your DNA. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/30 "2005-10-06T23:04:17Z")
> [@Amok](#): > > From that explanation, I think he was saying that Harry is not the only fantasy hero (or that Harry Potter the series isn’t the only fantasy series around). Or perhaps that the series/character just isn’t that special. Davith is special because he’s “the only gay in the village”, but since Harry Potter isn’t, he’s not. > > So, the guy wasn’t literally saying Harry is gay, he just used a joking allusion to a BBC show to make his point, the teachers got wooshed and stopped the talk, and this whole thing is more of a tempest in a teapot than usual. This would be exactly my take on it too. I think the Rev was using the phrase figuratively and humorously and the teachers, like said got totally whooshed. I’m happy to say that this is one time where I think an accusation of homophobia against a clergyman is completely unwarranted. I’m also betting that the kids understood him just fine and that teachers were the only ones who didn’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/31 "2005-10-06T23:11:53Z")
Reuters has now [retracted the story](http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=peopleNews&storyID=2005-10-06T223958Z_01_MAR636457_RTRIDST_0_PEOPLE-POTTER-DC.XML&archived=False). It seems not even the teachers objected to the _Little Britain_ allusion: > [@](#): > > The story headlined ‘ **J.K. Rowling rival labels Harry Potter “gay”** ’ is wrong and is withdrawn. > > A substitute story follows: > > **School expels children’s author for swearing** > > Reverend Graham Taylor, who wrote the novel “Shadowmancer,” which centers on witchcraft and battling evil, said teachers had got upset because he used the words “crap, poo, fart and bogey” in his talk at Penair School, in Truro in southwest England. Ha! Brilliant! **Johnny** , I think my favourite _Little Britain_ characters are _all_ the annoying characters played by Matt Lucas. Vicki Pollard, Daffyd, the Stage Hypnotist, the Fat Fighters lady, the faux paraplegic – all excruciatingly annoying characters. Funny as hell, though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/32 "2005-10-06T23:17:46Z")
> [@Amok](#): > > So, the guy wasn’t literally saying Harry is gay, he just used a joking allusion to a BBC show to make his point, the teachers got wooshed and stopped the talk, and this whole thing is more of a tempest in a teapot than usual. I don’t really know (at least from the CNN article) enough of what he said to be sure that he made it at all clear that he wasn’t implying that Harry was gay. I believe his explicit after the fact statements that that’s not what he meant. Without seeing more of the text of his remarks, though, I’m not willing to judge the teachers as wooshed. Also, we have this: > [@CNN.com](#): > > Teachers brought Taylor’s talk to the 12-year-olds on Tuesday to a premature end, saying the youngsters had become “excitable,” and asked him to leave. If the kids got worked up before the teachers reacted, then they got wooshed as well and stopping the talk may have been warranted. We don’t really know how the kids were reacting. The staff may have been oversensitive – on the otherhand their remarks may be a good reflection of what the students thought the guy was saying. Little Britain has been very popular in the UK – the teachers were about as likely to pick up on the allusion as the kids were. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/33 "2005-10-06T23:24:51Z")
…and [here is the BBC story.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4311826.stm) No mention of Harry at all. > [@](#): > > Teachers told GP Taylor, who wrote best seller Shadowmancer, to stop his talk at Penair School after using words such as “bum” and “ass” to 12-year-olds. […] [Headmistress Barbara Vann] said: "We know children will use inappropriate language but we don’t have staff using that language. > > “It would seem as if we are condoning inappropriate language and we don’t.” > > She said words used by Mr Taylor included “fart” and “pee”. Why do I think this fella could have grown into Father Jack (of _Father Ted_) if he didn’t get published? “Bum! Crap! Ass! Pee! Fart! Bogey! Poo! Feck! _Drink!_” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/34 "2005-10-06T23:46:30Z")
Well now it sounds like he probably just set the little buggers giggling at a series of mildy scatological references and the teachers stepped in just to put an end to the Beavis and Butt-Head effect. (huh huh huh…he said “fart”). It sounds like the guy was just trying to be entertaining and humorous but maybe forgot just how immature 12 year old boys can be about that stuff. If we had a speaker at school saying “pee” and “crap” when I was 12, we wouldn’t have stopped snickering for a week. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/35 "2005-10-07T00:23:07Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Reuters has now [retracted the story](http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=peopleNews&storyID=2005-10-06T223958Z_01_MAR636457_RTRIDST_0_PEOPLE-POTTER-DC.XML&archived=False). It seems not even the teachers objected to the _Little Britain_ allusion:Ha! Brilliant! > > **Johnny** , I think my favourite _Little Britain_ characters are _all_ the annoying characters played by Matt Lucas. Vicki Pollard, Daffyd, the Stage Hypnotist, the Fat Fighters lady, the faux paraplegic – all excruciatingly annoying characters. Funny as hell, though. 😃 I adore Lou and Andy - Andy CRACKS our shit up. After the first season of Little Britain, our new catchphrase was “I don’t like red.” No one ever gets my and ElzaHub’s _Little Britain_ obsession. And I cringe at the ‘bitty’ sketches. Daffyd’s a riot. And I’m sorry, the Rev. has high points for that reference from me. E. ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/36 "2005-10-07T01:21:19Z")
Gay, wizard, what could add to the horror? Ah, democrat. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/37 "2005-10-07T03:09:06Z")
I hate _Little Britain_. You may now continue with your… whatever this has turned into. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/38 "2005-10-07T06:27:17Z")
Daffyd is my favorite _Little Britain_ character. But then, he’s the only one I found the least bit funny. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/39 "2005-10-10T15:26:47Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > …and [here is the BBC story.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4311826.stm) > > [Headmistress Barbara Vann] said: "We know children will use inappropriate language but we don’t have staff using that language. > > “It would seem as if we are condoning inappropriate language and we don’t.” > > She said words used by Mr Taylor included “fart” and “pee”. Presumably, at that point, the reporter started nudging the cameraman and snickering? 🙂 Margaret, Margaret… Yes? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085/40 "2005-10-10T16:16:10Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > This is your cue to post again and say “Oops. I was wrong. Silly me.” Oops. I was wrong. Silly me. I guess I’ll go wave that banner at Falwell some more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-flaming-queer-says-rev/325085.md?page=3)