Was Mary Poppins Gay?

The Disney film Mary Poppins (1964) stars Julie Andrews as a magical, mysterious governess who introduces her young charges (and their parents) to the importance of having fun, a direct ancestor of such "servant brings joie de vivre to dysfunctional family" tv programs as The Nanny and the Professor, The Nanny, Who's the Boss, Gimme a Break, and Charles in Charge.

After seeing the movie, millions of kids sought out the original novels by P.L. Travers (the first two in 1934-1935, seven later), and were astonished by the original Mary Poppins: much more mythological, a sky goddess, sister to the stars, plus harsh, stern, condescending, demanding, a nasty piece of work.  How had this whimsy-hating sociopath been transformed into someone who says "supercalifragilistic"?

I just saw Saving Mr. Banks (2013), about the 20-year quest of Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) to convince the dour, whimsy-hating, jollity-hating,  Mickey Mouse-hating "my books have a serious purpose" Pamela L. Travers (Emma Thompson) into allowing a Disney film adaptation.  In desperate need of money as her book sales flagged, and desperate to present a hagiography of her father (Colin Farrell), an Irish storyteller saddled with a horrible job in a bank, she finally agreed, but with dozens of startlingly picky stipulations that straitjacket the screenwriter and lyricist (B.J. Novak, top photo)

1. Mr. Banks must not have a moustache (her father didn't), and he must be a positive, caring father.
2. The color red must not appear in the movie.
3. No animation.
4. Mary Poppins (never just "Mary") must not be attractive, must not smile, and must not dance.
5. There should be no hint of romantic interest between Mary Poppins and Cockney jack-of-all-trades Bert (Dick Van Dyke).

That last thing got me wondering: Pamela has no hetero-romance, in either her past flashbacks or in 1960s California.  Could she have been gay?

So I bought a recent biography by Valerie Lawson, Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Lifeof P.L. Travers.

Travers did have some hetero-romances.  She tended to fall in love with men who were old enough to be her father, and in positions of authority over her, so she could move from disciple to lover.  One was poet and theosophist AE Russell, whose son Diarmund became her agent.

Aside from her hero-worship flings, Travers seemed to prefer the company of woman.  She lived with Madge Burnard, daughter of the editor of Punch, for over a decade.  The two took vacations together and photographed each other nude. "But that does not indicate that they were lovers," Lawson assures us.

Later Travers became an intimate friend of Jessie Orage.  They exchanged letters of "increasing intimacy," according to Lawson, and joined a lesbian social group in Paris.  "But that, of course, is not conclusive proof that they were lesbians," Lawson assures us.

Good grief!  What would be conclusive proof?  A notarized coming-out statement?  This is more evidence than we have for 90% of the lesbian in the world, including most that you  are personally acquainted with.  You have no way of knowing if they are actuallyhaving sex (if that is, in fact, the requirement for being a lesbian, which is ridiculous).

Her literary creation, Mary Poppins, is obviously a lesbian, too.  She treats men as friends but has ecstatic, mystical relationships with female elemental spirits, fairies, crones, and stars.  A worshipper of the Divine Feminine.  What other evidence do you need?