Well, it apparently does to some people, and more to some than to others. The Bible Thumpers care if everyone is Gay because, well, the Rapture won't happen until all the sinners have been stoned to death. Gay folks care if she is because the more Gay People in High Places the better they feel about themselves. Democrats care because they practice Divide-and-Conquer politics, and it's an important symbol of their winning fight to destroy America from Within when one of their favored victim classes (finally!) gets the chance to stick it to the White Males.
I really couldn't care less. However, when I pointed out the other day that she was yet another in a seemingly-endless line of potentially-deadly lesbians wielding State Power, I was quickly taken to task by a reader who insisted that since Kagan hasn't "come out, if indeed she is Gay. She could, for all you know, be Straight", then I shouldn't make assumptions about her sexual preferences. She just might be that other rara avis; the potentially-deadly, but straight, Liberal woman wielding State Power. Think Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi -- only with a lifetime appointment.
I look at Elena Kagan and my Gaydar tingles (I'll bet that's the first and only time you ever see the words "tingle" and "Elena Kagan" ever used in the same sentence!). I'm not exactly a certified expert on Gayness, but I've been associated with enough homosexuals (of all persuasions), that I'm fairly confident that I can pick a bull dyke out of a crowded room with about 98% certainty. Even a closet one. It's a legacy of my time on Wall Street, where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting enough homosexuals to start a volleyball team.
Do I care if she likes women? No. Do I care if she's allergic to penis? No. Will it affect my life in any meaningful way? Probably not. Her gayness is not an issue to me -- it's only when that gayness is allied to politics that it begins to matter.
The concept of "Gay Rights" has, much like the earlier African-American-centered Civil Rights movement, has quickly morphed from being concerned with equal protection and opportunity, to attempting to make Gays a legally-protected species. Like bald eagles. It's not about Equal Rights for All -- it's about creating Additional Rights for Gays,, over-and-above those granted to all other citizens. In that regard, then Elena Kagan's sexuality does, indeed, matter, if only because one might assume that she's sympathetic to the cause of ensuring gay individuals have extra-Constitutional rights bestowed upon them.
Some gay folks would contend that it's not all about elevating Gay-over-Straight as much as it is a recognition, in law, of a homo's basic humanity. Fair enough. I can see your point. However, I've been associated with many a Gay for whom any activity at all, political or not, isn't about their Basic Humanity as much as it is in displaying their complete rejection of conventional society. That rejection, in many cases, serves as the basis for many people's choice to be Gay in the first place -- because sticking safety pins through their noses, dying their hair lime green, cross-dressing and self-mutilation usually didn't get them the attention they craved in the first place, so why not go all the way and become a dues-paying member of the Rump Ranger Club?
And when that still isn't shocking and rebellious and attention-getting enough, demand the right to be Cinderella for a Day and have a storybook wedding, right?
For some of the peripheral issues surrounding Gay Marriage, the legal system already provides many remedies; living wills, the Last Will and Testament, Power or Attorney, and in something I just learned about last week (which surprised me, I must admit), some gays go through the trouble of "adopting" one another just so that their lovers can be afforded the same legal rights as a blood relative (I wonder how you go about "un-adopting" someone quickly and inexpensively after the thrill is gone?). Yeah, that's complicated, and expensive, but guess what? That's the legal system, and it's the same one the rest of us have to contend with, so there -- you got your equality.
Otherwise, the arguments for Gay Marriage are mostly economic/palliative: taking advantage of the Marriage Benefit on tax returns, Domestic Partner Laws, extension of medical benefits to Domestic Partners, not to mention a host of other legal and economic benefits involving inheritance, the Spousal Privilege, Adoption and so forth.
Those who say "It's about letting people who love one another be free to express it", well, I'm sorry, but you've lost me. You're already free to express it. You're free to pretty much do anything you please...except get married. Considering half of marriages today end in divorce, it appears that marriage may not be all it's cracked up to be. There's no official policy to oppress Gays in this country, and Political Correctness ensures that many go out of their way NOT to offend Gay Sensibilities (oxymoron, I know). If you want to see what real oppression of homosexuals looks like, take a quick trip to Riyadh, Tehran or Karachi. We just don't let you get married -- those people will kill you.
The choice, I think, is between Elena Kagan:Homosexual with an Agenda, and Elena Kagan: Dispassionate Dispenser of Justice. Nothing in her (very thin) record thus far would indicate she's a paragon of Justice, therefore, the assumption is made that she's yet another ultra-lib with a crusade to lead. If that's the case, then Elena Kagan's sexuality does, indeed,matter.
That's not to say that Gay People have no place in politics, or the highest echelons of American government. I simply mean that's it up to Elena Kagan to a) be honest and forthright, and b) to prove that her ideology and judicial philosophy is not conditioned by the possibility that she likey da vajayjay too much.
Considering the response when the Wall Street Journal posted an innocuous photo of Kagan playing softball, the refusal of the White House to answer the questions surrounding this subject, and Kagan's apparent reluctance to end the speculation, I'll bet a lung she's Gay and intends to elevate Gays to a state of privileged citizenship that will be denied the rest of us. The reason for her silence is that she's busy trying to figure out how NOT to answer direct Questions from conservatives in Congress, and yet still appear to be a reasonable and intelligent person. Those confirmation hearings will not be about a Supreme Court judge, they will be a symphony of random platitudes and evasive nonsense which the media will help try to spin into "Poor Elena Kagan is being savaged by Homophobic Republicans".
It'll be a better drama than Desperate Housewives.
So yeah, in the end (no pun intended) Elena Kagan's gayness DOES sorta matter.
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