One more reason to admire J.K. Rowling

Not that I've ever given it thought one way or another, but J.K. Rowling confirmed that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and mentor to Harry Potter, is gay.

She was doing a reading for Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows at Carnegie Hall and was fielding questions from the audience when one young fan asked whether Dumbledore finds "true love."

"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."

Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his "great tragedy."

"Oh, my god," Rowling concluded with a laugh, "the fan fiction."

J.K. Rowling Outs Hogwarts Character

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer, San Francisco Gate

Rowlng regards her Potter books as a "prolonged argument for tolerance" and urged her fans to "question authority." I think that deserves another round of applause.