Looking at the Kagan kafluffle
Because looking at your politics for a second let’s me ignore the trainwreck on my doorstep
Kagan looks to be the next Supreme Court judge and there’s considerable kafuffle about her around the place. Namely because there’s a lot of speculation about her being ZOMG A LESBIAN!
Is she a Lesbian? I’m not going to speculate. She hasn’t spoken about it and the White House has vehemently denied it (in rather an offensive manner, to be honest) I’m also leery about why everyone is assuming she is a lesbian. I’ve seen “rumours” cited (like that ever meant anything) and, frankly, a lot of speculation based on the fact she’s single and the way she looks (c’mon, we know that’s not right). Also I think we need to stop all this pressuring and poking her to come out. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you do not know what pressures, demons and badness is happening in a person’s life and in their mind to demand that they come out. If you don’t know how much it will cost her - and if you aren’t her, you don’t know - then you have no right to demand she pay that cost (also, I am amused by the usual suspects on the right saying she has to come out or its proof of her dishonesty - while at the same time fighting to preserve DADT)
The idea that she should stay in the closet to avoid Republican hostility (especially since the hate groups are losing their shit about the idea of a lesbian Supreme Court Justice) doesn’t seem very sensible to me. I’m an outsider though, so maybe I’m missing something - but look at the Republicans at the moment it seems the Democrats could declare that water is wet and the Republicans would be screaming in a foaming fury about the evident dryness how outrageously awful it is for the Dems to suggest otherwise. In fact, given that I’d rather think it would be better for Obama to propose the most commie-pinko, far-left justice whose robe is tie-died emblazoned by rainbows, black panther symbols and a big picture of a Che Guevara across the front and has epaulettes of marijuana leaves. After all, if they’re going to object ANYWAY?
Should she be outed? We should know better than that too. I support the outing of closeted homophobes. That’s basic self-defence and I approve and applaud when it is done. But Kagan, while her record probably isn’t worth all the crowing its getting, certainly isn’t a homophobe. That makes outing her crossing the line. She’s not an enemy, she’s not an opponent, she doesn’t deserve that shit.
Now, would it matter if she was an out lesbian? Yes, let’s be honest, it would. In gesture politics if nothing else, having an openly GBLT person on the Supreme Court would be a powerful statement of acceptance and acceptability. It actually kind of boggles me to see people who are squeeing about another woman Supreme Court judge and another Jewish Supreme Court judge who are also saying it doesn’t matter if she is openly lesbian or not. Yes, it matters, it’s a strong message and a success if she were, the first ANYTHING matters (albeit, probably not nearly as much as it is generally treated). But that only applies if she is openly a lesbian - I don’t see any statement in having a closeted GBLT person in any position - in fact, there’s a damn good chance there already HAS been a closeted GBLT person in the Supreme Court. “You can take part in society so long as you hide” isn’t a revolutionary statement or a good statement. So, let’s be clear - yes it would matter if an OUT lesbian was a supreme court judge. A closeted Lesbian? Not so much. An outed Lesbian? Definitely not.
That doesn’t mean that there’d be a super gay ally on the court - just as having a black judge on the court doesn’t mean there’s a super anti-racist ally on the court (names no names) or having openly gay party members means a political party isn’t homophobic (yeah Tories, I’m looking at you). No, for that you have to look at her policies - and while she’s hardly the most leftist of lefty judges that could have been chosen and there’s a few issues where I On gay rights indicators are to the positive, which is a good sign (though I’d stop short of dancing around and singing her praises). The bad side? She’s been involved in so much that she may have to recuse herself from all the current pending challenges - which means don’t expect any grand pro-gay justice from the Supremes any time soon.