As
he
walks
down
a
crowded
hallway
at
the
Regal
Hollywood
24
theater
late
Tuesday
night,
Bil
Boozer
rounds
a
corner
so
he
can
claim
his
place
at
the
end
of
a
line
that
includes
young
girls
dressed
in
British
school
uniforms
and
grandmothers
dressed
as
witches.
He
thinks
back
to
the
last
time
he
came
out
for
a
midnight
premiere
of
a
new
Harry
Potter
movie.
When
“Harry
Potter
&
the
Goblet
of
Fire”
hit
theaters
in
November
2005,
Boozer
and
friends
arrived
two
hours
early
and
were
among
the
first
10
people
in
line.
They
passed
the
time
playing
cards
and
trivia.
“We
resolved
never
to
do
it
again,
but
here
we
are,”
Boozer
says
at
about
10:55
p.m.
Tuesday
as
he
makes
his
way
to
the
back
of
the
line,
which
by
then
was
so
long
that
he
stood
about
10
feet
from
an
exit
door.
Boozer,
a
gay
doctoral
student
at
Georgia
State
University,
began
reading
the
Potter
novels
in
2001
as
a
way
of
connecting
with
his
niece
and
nephew,
who
were
already
avid
fans
of
world’s
most
famous
teenage
wizard.
The
books
appealed
to
Boozer’s
affinity
for
fantasy
literature
as
well
as
his
interest
in
adolescent
issues
stemming
from
his
academic
major
in
education.
“It’s
a
—
I
don’t
want
to
say
‘traditional’
—
but
a
common
kind
of
story
about
growing
up
and
realizing
who
you
are,”
says
Boozer,
who
adds
that
the
Potter
franchise
may
hold
added
appeal
to
gay
and
lesbian
audiences.
“There’s
a
kind
of
resonance
there
—
Harry’s
got
things
that
he
doesn’t
understand
about
himself,
that
he
comes
to
understand
once
he
realizes
he’s
part
of
this
other
world,”
Boozer
says.
“His
family
doesn’t
accept
him,
they
want
him
to
keep
[his
magical
powers]
a
secret
—
that
sort
of
thing.
“There’s
a
lot
of
places
for,
particularly
gay
youth,
to
kind
of
see
some
things
in
there
to
associate
with
themselves,
things
that
match
up
with
their
own
feelings,”
he
adds.
J.K.
Rowling’s
potter
books
have
enjoyed
rare
mass
appeal,
so
it's
no
surprise
that
gay
readers
are
among
the
throngs,
including
those
who
hunt
for
affirming
themes
about
outsiders
in
the
mystical
storylines.
Most
notably,
a
June
2003
column
in
the
Boston
Phoenix
by
gay
author
Michael
Bronski
questioned
whether
the
entire
series
could
be
read
as
a
gay
allegory.
“The
Harry
Potter
books
are,
in
a
word,
queer,”
wrote
Bronski,
who
added
that
"queer"
means
more
than
simply
"gay."
“They
are
deeply
subversive
in
their
unremitting
attacks
on
the
receive
wisdom
that
being
‘normal’
is
good,
reasonably,
or
even
healthy,”
he
continued.
From
the
opening
pages
of
the
first
Potter
book
—
“Harry
Potter
&
the
Sorcerer’s
Stone,”
released
in
the
U.S.
in
1998
—
Bronski
and
others
saw
Rowling's
tale
as
remarkably
similar
to
a
coming
out
story.
Living
with
his
conservative
aunt
and
uncle
after
the
death
of
his
parents,
young
Harry
is
kept
out
of
view
by
his
family
because
they
are
ashamed
of
him
and
his
ways
—
as
a
wizard.
Unaware
of
his
magical
powers,
Harry
spends
almost
a
dozen
years
shuttered
in
a
cupboard
beneath
the
stairs.
“Even
when
I
first
read
it,
I
thought
the
cupboard
could
be
a
metaphor
for
the
closet,”
says
Becca
Rainey,
a
lesbian
who
lives
in
Virginia-Highland
and
read
“Sorcerer’s
Stone”
in
early
2000
at
the
suggestion
of
her
girlfriend.
“She
told
me
it
was
supposed
to
be
a
kids’
book,
but
that
it
was
a
really
good
story
and
also
had
these
moralistic
undertones,”
Rainey
says.
“So
I
guess
I
had
some
preconceptions
when
I
read
it,
but
it
doesn’t
seem
hard
to
see
that
some
things
could
be
considered
gay.”
As
the
story
progresses,
Harry
learns
of
his
powers
as
a
wizard,
finds
peers
and
mentors
who
share
his
magical
orientation
and
learns
to
accept
and
celebrate
himself.
But
beyond
the
similarities
between
that
story
and
a
typical
coming-out
experience,
Bronski
reads
gay-coded
hints
in
everything
from
the
color
clothing
the
witches
and
wizards
wear
(“purple,
violet
and
green
clothing
—
all
colors
associated
with
homosexuality”),
to
the
language
Harry’s
uncle
uses
in
chastising
Harry’s
atypical
ways.
“I
warned
you!”
Vernon
Dursley
yells
to
his
nephew.
“I
will
not
tolerate
mention
of
your
abnormality
under
this
roof!”
Another
reason
Rowling’s
books
are
so
successful
—
and
why
opening
night
for
Harry
Potter
...
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
