Unexpected homosexualty in plot.

[scythecow]

Don't worry about major justification. Don't go out of your way pleasing as many readers as possible. Go sharp. Go Poppy Z. Brite and write your story how it's supposed to be written.

If you try to please everyone and worry about justifying every little quirk, you'll start to bland-ify yourself. Yeah, maybe you'll offend some people if you don't tone it down. That's good. You want to offend some people. Unwarranted controversy will only boost sales. It should stand out, so make sure you don't water it down.

Most of the time, if something doesn't offend someone it's doing everything wrong.

Still, don't make it a cheap shot to the readers or make them feel like they were cheated or they're idiots. Make sure if fits the character and the story. In the end, that is ALL that is really important.

Dumbledore being gay just... doesn't fit. Rowling should've made it more obvious or not at all. It's not that it was subtle; it just wasn't there. The way her books were written, it WASN'T part of his character and maybe she was too afraid and trying too hard to sell to young'uns to bring it out properly. So she deserves some backlash for that, but not for making Dumbledore happen to be gay.

 

[Pearwood]

Don't say it outright, drop the hints so people can get their own ideas about the character. That makes readers think a bit more about your writing and makes it a bit more memorable.

 

[Deacon Cole]

You can make your character gay if you want. Make him a flaming stereotype and everyone will hate you. To this end, here's a proceed that I have found help make gay characters well rounded and believable.

Spoiler

1) Think of a person.




This method not only works on gay characters, but also characters of various races, creeds, etc. Do think of the stereotypes. Think of the person. They are human, after all.