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J.K. Rowling: Aslan Was Gay, Too

SEATTLE, WA – Only a few short weeks after stirring controversy worldwide by announcing that a main character in the Harry Potter novels was homosexual, J.K. Rowling is raising eyebrows—and tempers—once again. This time, the hugely popular British author has stepped beyond the confines of her own canon into more sacred territory: C.S. Lewis's classic children's series The Chronicles of Narnia.

Rowling went public with her theory in much the same way that she outed Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore—in response to a question at a publicity event. Trent Stephens, a junior at Seattle Pacific University, asked the popular British author if she had felt the influence of one of her predecessors, C.S. Lewis. At first, Rolwing gave the answer she usually gives to this common question: that she adored the Narnia books as a child, despite the differences in the underlying mythologies of the two series. But then she dropped the bombshell: "And of course, since now you all know about Dumbledore's sexuality, you can see the obvious connection between him and Aslan the lion."

When pressed for elaboration, Rowling stressed that she had no hard evidence that Aslan was gay. "But," she added, "I think it's fairly obvious, don't you? I mean, he seemed to get no end of happiness from turning boys into princes, and he was always asking Lucy to run her fingers through his hair. It doesn't get much gayer than that, does it?"

The response from evangelical community has been a swift if predictable fury. Jonathan Falwell, writing in Listen America, the weekly column he took over from his late father Jerry Falwell, expressed his frustration over what he called "a gross double-standard." Falwell "was excoriated publicly for suggesting a fictional character was gay. But J.K. Rowling has now done the same thing—twice in one month—and yet she gets nothing but applause for it."

Meanwhile, James Dobson of Focus on the Family had some ominous words for the author of books which his organization has previously warned against: "Ms. Rowling might do well to consider the past before suggesting an alternate lifestyle for a beloved Christ figure. Just remember how Bible-believing Christians stomped out The Last Temptation of Christ. The same could be in store for Harry Potter unless we see a retraction soon."

Ms. Rowling, for her part, was dismissive of such threats. Responding to the firestorm of controversy on her personal website, she admitted that she was not worried about the response from evangelicals. "I'm sure it will blow over soon," she wrote. "In the meantime, I'm planning to spend some of my considerable fortune on some Mr. Pibb and Red Vines—they're crazy delicious."

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