JK Rowling has snide response for fan who says she 'can't see' Dumbledore as being gay

By ISABELLE CHAPMAN

JK Rowling fans are calling her a hero after defending "Harry Potter" character Albus Dumbledore.

A young fan tweeted at the famed writer Tuesday: "Thank you so much for writing Harry Potter. I wonder why you said that Dumbledore is a gay because I can't see him that way."

The tweet was deleted after the author quipped, "Maybe because gay people just look like... people?"

The exchange soon went viral. With thousands of retweets, favorites, and replies.

This incident is not the first time the Scottish author has defended the headmaster of Hogwarts. Shortly after she revealed Dumbledore's sexuality to the public in 2007, she told a news conference, "It has certainly never been news to me that a brave and brilliant man could love other men," according to Reuters.

Nor is this the first time she has voiced her support of the LGBT community. Not long ago, she tweeted out an illustration from a Canadian LGBT organization called The Youth Project in response to a reader who asked her about whether LGBT students were safe at Hogwarts. The illustration was accompanied by text that read: "If Harry Potter taught us anything ... it's that no one should live in a closet."

JK Rowling later posted a tweet to let followers know that she didn't believe that her young reader had meant to be rude with her question.