Not all gay persons have perfect "gaydar"
Yeah, what he said. I implore you, shadowdorothy, to reconsider the notion that any one person who falls into some category or another has a definitive say in what every other individual in that category is up to/all about. I mean, really now, just thinking realistically about it...
because a gay guy or girl would know if the old man was or wasn't.
and i did ask a gay guy i know. he said and i quote "What the old man is GAY? no way, he doesn't even act it or sound like it for that matter."
Oh man.

*shakes head.* Okay. Um. Hmm.
What exactly does it mean to "act gay" or "sound gay," anyway? Maybe I need to get with the times or something, but I was pretty certain that all one had to do to be gay was be emotionally/physically/psychologically attracted to a person of the same gender and that it had nothing to do with a human being's individual personality or mannerisms (which are probably mediated by culture, which I might add would be pretty different in the wizarding world anyhow :B). Of course, what do I know, I'm just an old fogey.
And if nothing else, I wasn't of the impression that this was a subjective matter. JKR said it, JKR's the boss of what is or isn't true of her characters, and... well, there you have it. A person can argue over whether or not he
seems gay until they're blue in the face, or they can choose not to believe it, but it does little to undo what Rowling has by now established as a fact of that character. Then there's also the fact that some of us
do totally see where she's coming from, and maybe even believed it before she confirmed it. :3
Ahee. You know, I'm privy to a lot of the actions and opinions of Harry Potter fandom. Having this conversation brings to memory the time that all these spoiled fangirls had a massive collective conniption because Blaise Zabini was revealed to be black rather than the tall, dark, handsome Italian emo-boy of their dreams. They seriously went nuts and refused to accept it. There were many lulz abounding.