I agree with you -- narratively, I don't see what purpose it would serve. Our discussion was really using the HP books as an example.
To bring up the "fact" that Lupin (or Sirius, or Pettigrew, or anyone else) is gay would be purely an afterthought
The idea of JKR stating that Pettigrew is gay struck me as viscerally alarming, and I had to pause and examine my reaction to figure out why. Of course, my Peter *is* gay; the notion certainly doesn't disturb me in fic. However, in canon, singling out a character who's consistently portrayed as criminal, immoral, and loathsome, and then saying he's also gay -- no. That's scary and uncomfortable for me. I would feel the same way if, say, it was suggested in canon that Umbridge was a lesbian.
This may not be entirely logical on my part. Of course, all sorts of people are gay, and it has nothing to do with any other personality trait -- that was exactly my point in my original post. But there's also a historical trend in film and literature to make villains gay, or code them as gay (cf The Celluloid Closet), and the idea of JKR outing Pettigrew slams that button hard, to me.
no subject
To bring up the "fact" that Lupin (or Sirius, or Pettigrew, or anyone else) is gay would be purely an afterthought
The idea of JKR stating that Pettigrew is gay struck me as viscerally alarming, and I had to pause and examine my reaction to figure out why. Of course, my Peter *is* gay; the notion certainly doesn't disturb me in fic. However, in canon, singling out a character who's consistently portrayed as criminal, immoral, and loathsome, and then saying he's also gay -- no. That's scary and uncomfortable for me. I would feel the same way if, say, it was suggested in canon that Umbridge was a lesbian.
This may not be entirely logical on my part. Of course, all sorts of people are gay, and it has nothing to do with any other personality trait -- that was exactly my point in my original post. But there's also a historical trend in film and literature to make villains gay, or code them as gay (cf The Celluloid Closet), and the idea of JKR outing Pettigrew slams that button hard, to me.