There has been a lot of speculation that Janet Napolitano and Elena Kagan are both lesbians. As far as I can tell this is based on gossip and the fact that both are ambitious, political middle-aged women who aren’t married.
Is there anything to this rumor?
You pretty much answered your own question. People . . . especially if I may say so, straight men . . . tend to stick the label on women who don’t live up to their little subjective fantasies.
oops
Fantasies? Kagan has some mannish characteristics, including voice, hair, clothing and demeanor. It’s logical to assume that she may be gay, but not necessarily so.
I do not have a factual answer to the question although I am curious as to why anybody would publicly raise the question about the sexuality of a cabinet secretary or Supreme Court nominee when it has nothing to do with their job. Why does anyone care?
Now, I could understand an interest in a possibly-gay actor known for playing sexy parts as a lead in romantic roles with the opposite sex. Although not interesting to me, I could see how it could be interesting to some how a gay person could successfully play romantic hetero roles (or even vice versa–straight actors who played gay romantic parts).
But in a political figure? It’s their business.
Huh? 
It’s not like politicians have been given a pass on illict affairrs, paying for prostitutes or trying to hook up with other men in airport bathrooms. At least not in the last year or so . . . heaven forbid we ask questions of our politicians sexual orientations. Shame on you America! :smack:
But yeah, I hear you. Who cares.
Gay marriage is a hot political topic these days. Getting nominated to the Supreme Court is a political process. While I agree that it shouldn’t be anyone’s damn business, the fact is that the sexuality of a Supreme Court nominee is extremely important politically right now.
No. Ditto for Condoleezza Rice. It’s just speculation based on the fact that these women all chose to focus on their careers to the exclusion of marriage & motherhood. Even if a man did the same (& women still have to make choices that men don’t) he wouldn’t be subject to this much speculation (people would still talk just not as much).
Slate says “No.”
Although, apparently one Blogger said yes (and later apologized), so you can see why there’s some confusion.
I agree that it shouldn’t be anybody’s business however since gay marriage and gays in the military are hot legal and political topics, sadly it will be…although why that doesn’t mean that somebody being straight isn’t just as big a deal escapes me.
And some of the groups you’d expect it of have promised to make it an issue - for example the Family Research Council has stated flat out that they will oppose the nomination of any homosexual to the Supreme Court.
They both “look” gay.
There is a stereotype of lesbians, esp. older lesbians, as being somewhat overweight with short hair and a lack of attention to appearance that is often demanded of professional women. There are plenty of lesbains who don’t fit the stereotype, and plenty of women who look like that who are into dudes. That’s why it’s a stereotype. But let’s not pretend it doesn’t exist.
–Cliffy
Hell, I remember people suggesting that Hilary Clinton was a lesbian. The wife of the president. Gay.
Simply being gay is no longer a scandal. I’d rather have a gay justice than a married straight guy who screws a prostitute.
It’s been interesting on the Hannity forums (where I frequently lurk) these past two days. Yesterday, there was a single “Is Kagan a Lesbian” thread, and most of the responses were, “Who cares?”
Today, however, there are several threads, and the responses seem to be turning more towards “Why won’t she come out of the closet?”.
More evidence that if you say something often enough, it becomes Truth.
I started a thread defending Kagan from the “hideous” charge some are labeling her with, but real world if you “present” a fairly dykish appearance (and she does), and there is not even a rumor of you ever having been in an intimate heterosexual relationship (and there is not) the chances that you are a gay woman are pretty damn good.
IIRC the people suggesting this most strongly several years ago were female activists, not conservatives. Deborah Harry of Blondie in an address in Washington DC supporting some aspect of women’s rights made the inference that Hillary was a “college lesbian” the main intro to her speech.
We can agree that such a stereotype exists among some people, but I’d suggest that your notion of stereotypes depends upon your knowing who is and who is not a lesbian. In as much as there’s no way to know about people who choose to not make their sex lives part of their public persona, the only basis for such a stereotype is in those people who do. And since we don’t know what percentage of homosexual women comprise the latter group, your stereotype is questionably valid, to say the least.
The problem with questions like these are they have no true answer.
Why? Because homosexuality is a self preception. A sex act does not a homosexual make.
For instance, singer Daryl Hall has said in a “Rolling Stone” interview he has had sex with men, but he didn’t much care for it and now has a girlfriend.
OK is Hall gay? I would say “no.”
I know lots of self indentified gay males who have had sex with woman at one time in their life, does that make them straight?
No
You see the problem is there is no real answer to this.
To get a factual answer you couldn’t ask Kagan “are you gay”? You’d have to ask, “Have you ever had sex with a woman”? And even then as we’ve seen with Bill Clinton sex too has many defintions.
Is it valid? Perhaps.
As a gay male it makes me upset that if Kagan was asked, “Are you Jewish” she would say “Yes.” She wouldn’t say “It’s not relevant” or “It’s no one’s business.”
If she would answer yes to being Jewish then she should answer yes or no to being a lesbian.
It’s also relevant because people are curious about famous people? If you look at Mariah Carey, or Mr Obama, you can tell they are not all white. Whether or not that makes them qualified to sing or lead a nation, isn’t the point, it’s just that people like to know.
Some people consider homosexuality to be problematic. From a mental illness to just disgusting to just “who cares.” So the question is going to come.
C’mon Kagan looks like a man for goodness sake, it’s not like the question isn’t going to come up. It’s like people who cover themselves head to toe with tatoos and then complain when people look at them.
If you are going to go around totally tatooed or being a very masculine looking woman, or anything that is out of the ordinary, you can’t have an attitude when people wonder.
The real reason for this is they want to for force Kagan into an answer. This way if she says “no, I’m not a lesbian,” they can get proof and prove her a liar. If she says 'Yes, I am a lesbian," she faces not getting the approval. If she says “I won’t answer,” she then becomes a detriment to her own people.
Can you imagine if Mr Obama had refused to answer the question of whether he was mixed race? He’d have copped it from both side about being ashamed of who he was. So he just told the truth.
Kagan is in no-win situation here.
As I said, I am a gay male and asking someone if they are gay is not any wronger than if you’d ask them what religion they are, or what race they are or what nationality they are or any other question. If they’d answer a question to race, nationality or religion then they should answer the gay question.
A lot depends upon the context in which the question was asked. But asking someone if she is Jewish is just as irrelevant and just as much no one’s business as questions about sexual orientation. Your assertion that it’s relevant because people want to know redefines “relevance.” If it’s not germain to any specific issues, it’s irrelevant. Curiousity is not an excuse to delve into someone’s personal life.
To the OP: What kind of “evidence” would qualify?
I am a member of a 90-man gay chorus. Yet except for myself, I could not provide “evidence” that any particular individual is gay. If you disregard people’s words or actions or appearance, which can be misleading or unreliable, what “evidence” would be compelling? Even sexual activity can be misleading.
Our chorus does have a policy of admitting anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, and it was specifically when addressing this issue that we all decided that there’s no way of knowing whether a particular person is gay, and in fact it doesn’t matter.