Let’s talk about this. Recently, the news media has been making a big to-do about the fact that President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan likes to play softball. Why? Because it might mean she’s gay.

The discussion was sparked after The Wall Street Journal  published a picture of Kagan from 1993 playing softball. Some have speculated that this was a deliberate attempt by the conservative news media (WSJ is owned by the News Corporation, the same company that owns Fox News and spearheaded by international conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdock) to “out” or at least make an issue of gossip that Kagan is gay.

It really amazes me that at a time when there’s great public outcry against racial profiling (think Arizona’s new immigration law), sexual profiling would be condoned in such an official setting. It is a stereotype that women who play softball are lesbians. It’s extremely disappointing that the institution that’s supposed to set the tone for enlightened public discourse would pander to this type of school-yard gossip mongering.

I know, it really shouldn’t be surprising at this point, a few months ago they couldn’t find anything better to report on than the Tiger Woods affair for weeks on end. Weeks. Still – this goes beyond what should or should not be considered “news” into the territory of what newscasters should and should not legitimate.

Some have said the public has a right to know whether or not she is of an alternate sexuality. No. They don’t. If we assume that the government practices equal opportunity employment, then the status of her sexuality should be a non-issue, full-stop. If anyone wants to object to her nomination based on her sexuality, then that person really shouldn’t be making decisions for large groups of people.

Some also might argue that her sexuality will influence her decisions as a Supreme Court judge. If that line of reasoning were true, then it would also be the case that a heterosexual judge’s sexual preferences would also influence his/her decisions, and, well, we already have quite a few of them on the panel so a little diversity wouldn’t be out of the question. Incidentally, both the White House and many of Kagan’s close friends have stepped forward to deny that she is gay.  

The only reason to talk about her sexuality would be to appeal to public prejudices and that’s what this is about. This tactic is a very effective and longstanding smoke and mirrors trick in the world of media and politics – change the focus of the discourse (from say, actual politics to the highly charged topic of sexuality) and you can more easily sway perceptions. David Copperfield can use misdirection, I’ll take my news discourse straight – and my Supreme Court justices any way they so please – thank you.

Further Reading

Elena Kagan 'outed' as lesbian by Wall Street Journal softball picture, Telegraph.co.uk

Why We're Talking About Elena Kagan's Sexuality, Newsweek