Author says Harry Potter is gay

[gldstwmn]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/10/0...eut/index.html

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British cleric turned top-selling author of supernatural children's novels was thrown out of a school where he was delivering a talk after he told pupils that Harry Potter was "gay."

Reverend Graham Taylor, who penned the novel "Shadowmancer" which, like the tales of the famous boy wizard created by J.K. Rowling, centers on witchcraft and battling evil, got his marching orders after teachers accused him of homophobia.

"As for Harry Potter, well, he's not the only gay in the village," the former Anglican priest told children at Penair School in Truro, southwest England, referring to a catchphrase from the popular British comedy TV show "Little Britain."

He also described the villains in Rowling's blockbuster series as "wimps" and called TV "crap" compared to books.

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.

"We were very disappointed to have to curtail a visit from Mr Taylor," the school said in a statement on Thursday.

"The seven staff from the school who were present were very embarrassed and uncomfortable with what was being said.

"The remarks that were made were thought by the staff to be offensive and were well below the standards that we expect of responsible and thoughtful adults working in our school."

Taylor, whose book topped the UK book charts for 15 weeks with the film rights also sold for £2.25 million ($4 million), was unrepentant and accused staff of censorship.

"It was a joke; a joke from 'Little Britain' that the children would know," Taylor was quoted by newspapers as saying.

"I didn't set out to offend. I'm a priest and I'm very careful about not offending people."

[strandinthewind]

I know - I saw this

BTW - what kind of priest goes around cursing in front of kids and then calls villians whimps in a way that suggests they should be more evil

[Mari]

This sounds just like a sketch out of Little Britain

Um. Yes. Poor children.

[Nixxxed]

Dammit Chris! Your headline had me salivating at the thought of reading that J.K. Rowling had hinted about some surprises for the final book. And then, when I started reading the actual article, I kept waiting for the "Miss Rowling, however, confirmed the cleric's insinuation..." section.

Tease!

[estranged4life]

of sour apples if ya ask me.

Priests/Reverends-Can't live with 'em...Can't leave your young boys around 'em!

[Raeven Skye]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/10/0...eut/index.html

oh my! first Tinky Winky, now poor Harry Potter!

[bretonbanquet]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I know - I saw this

BTW - what kind of priest goes around cursing in front of kids and then calls villians whimps in a way that suggests they should be more evil

Oh come on... the worst thing he said was 'crap' - and these kids were 14, not 12. Let's not pretend they don't use worse words than that 100 times a day. I went to a school about half a mile from this one in Truro, and let's say it's not full of innocent kiddies and mummy's boys / girls. That was my school This one was rough!!

For someone to get thrown out of a place like Penair for saying 'crap' is the funniest thing I ever heard. The other words that the teachers weren't happy about included 'bum', 'fart', 'bogey' etc - it's not like he went in there playing Ice-T records. And homophobic? Please... in what way? Anyway, the guy's right, Harry Potter is mediocre. Some of the kids said he was promoting his own book too much, but otherwise I don't see the problem.

[diamondsnake]

Here's what I don't get: people calling everything "gay". A girl in my college class said that she dropped her Math course because the class was "gay". I just don't get it- it seems so dumb an uneducated to say that, in my opinion.

[DavidMn]

Jerry Falwell-Tinky Winky anyone?