The Kagan Question

From the moment I heard the words “50,” “single” and “no children,” I knew that Elena Kagan’s sexual orientation was going to become question. Maybe more annoying like a gnat than potentially painful or dangerous like a bee, but attention-grabbing all the same. Of course, I had the same reaction as I did when “Jewish” popped up on the news graphic: Do these things matter?

My final answer is “no.” Mind you, I’m not saying that a candidate’s personal life isn’t interesting or even, to a mild degree, important. When one enters politics, one all but invites the intimate probing. People are naturally curious (read: gossipy) and want to know these things, especially in a democracy in which people feel it’s their basic right to know. But even more so in an age where the culture is increasingly more apt to reveal private matters in an extraordinarily public fashion. In my opinion, however, the bottom line, is this: Unless it can be proven that any facet of a candidate’s personal life will cripple his or her ability to perform his or her duties, then the details thereof are irrelevant and nothing more than interesting pieces of a whole. In the case of Elena Kagan, that means, would being a lesbian cloud her objectivity?

For the record, according to Karen Tumulty of the “Washington Post” (May 14, 2010), the White House publicly stated that Kagan is, in fact, heterosexual. “False charges,” claimed spokesperson Ben LaBolt. (Ahem.)

End of discussion? Well, my mind is one that travels freely through the Land of What-If (thankfully, no citizenship papers are necessary to do so), and I can’t help wondering, “What if Kagan were an out lesbian? What then?” Is there really any question?