The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

A couple of days ago I posted an item commenting on Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's disclosure that Albus Dumbledore is gay, and in it included an observation that despite evangelical conservative claims that the chief wizard of Hogwarts was homosexual, his influence was insufficient to keep young and impressionable Harry from developing a romantic interest in junior apprentice wizardress Ginny Weasley.

Well, not exactly. When I wrote the piece and pressed that "send" button whose lack of "are you sure you want to do this?" feature I had decried last weekend, I had managed to (1) spell the author's last name with an "a" rather than an "o", (2) stated Dumbledore's first name as "Aldus" rather than "Albus" (probably confusing him with Aldous Huxtable, you know, the one on the old Bill Cosby Show), and (3) getting it totally wrong about Harry's ultimate romantic interest. Although I now understand that in the earlier books (and movies), there was some indication that Harry's attentions were going more towards Hermione Granger, ultimately Ginny Weasley won out. (Still, the important part was that the winner was named Ginny, not Johnny. Give me credit for something!

WIthin minutes I got a frantic message from Bil Browning, who wears a big button with the words "You Don't Need A Fail-Safe 'Send' Key 'Cause You Always Have ME" on his sweatshirt, observing that it was obvious that I hadn't read any of the Harry Potter books (as had pointed out when I wrote about being a Harry Potter Widower for several days while my other half poured over Rowlings' seventh and final volume), but that he had gone ahead and made changes. And indeed he had, a lot like that little window that comes up sometimes on my computer screen saying "While you were asleep, Windows crept into your hard drive and updated your programs, making it necessary to restart you computer." Or something like that.

Anyway, Bil had indeed again saved me from myself. The next time I attempt to post anything with the remotest reference to Harry Potter, or at least to a volume published in book but not yet made into a movie that I've seen, I'll run it by my spouse. Unless, that is, he's decided to start reading another series long before it hits the silver screen, again making me a bookworm widower.

In which case, I will post a disclaimer: "All references to or spelling any character, place, or plot are subject to change." Then I will hit the "send" button and hold my breath, hoping that Browning hasn't strayed too far away from the Internet.

Thanks, Bil. When is my next makeover appointment with you?