Loading...
Loading...
On-Air Promo Creative 115x175
|| News ||
Page 1 of 1

No Out Lesbians on Court Short List



Despite the hopes of LGBT activists, a leaked short list of potential Supreme Court nominees does not contain the names of any out lesbians.

The list, which MSNBC's First Read published on Monday and attributed to a "couple of sources in the know," contains the following six names: Judge Diane Wood of the U.S. court of appeals for the 7th circuit; Solicitor General Elena Kagan; Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. court of appeals for the 2nd circuit; Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm; Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano; and Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. court of appeals for the D.C. circuit.

Since Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced on May 1 that he would retire at the end of the court's current term, LGBT activists have hailed the public discussion of two out lesbians, former Stanford Law School dean Kathleen Sullivan and fellow Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan, as potential nominees. Hopes were especially strong given the disappointment from some quarters that President Obama, who will select the Supreme Court nominee, did not pick any openly gay people to serve in his cabinet.

Napolitano has long been the subject of gay rumors, despite publicly declaring in 2002 that she is not gay.

Kagan is not out, though several blogs have suggested she has a female partner and that her sexual orientation is an "open secret" at Harvard Law School.

Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Facebook. Page 1 of 1
Reader Comments
  • Name: TConde
    Date posted: 5/13/2009 10:24:00 PM
    Hometown: DC

    Comment:

    Uh, no, Johannes. I can tell Kagan apart from Karlan, but thanks for your help anyway. Kagan is openly gay.

  • Name: Johannes
    Date posted: 5/13/2009 12:32:00 PM
    Hometown: California

    Comment:

    In response to Tony Conde's post: you are thinking of Pam Karlan, not Elena Kagan. Did YOU not check your facts?

  • Name: Tony Conde
    Date posted: 5/13/2009 10:29:00 AM
    Hometown: Washington

    Comment:

    This reporting is atrociously bad. Elena Kagan IS an out lesbian. Did you not check your facts? Did you not pick up the phone and call anyone? Truly, this is why the Advocate needs to go out of business, or stick to running puff pieces on Lance Bass and stop calling itself a newsmagazine.

  • Name: Dameon
    Date posted: 5/13/2009 9:48:00 AM
    Hometown: Phoenix

    Comment:

    Napolitano may not be out, but it's been a relatively open secret in Arizona that she is gay. (At least to the GLBT community and the Dems overall) That wouldn't go over well in Arizona politics as a whole though so she stayed closeted. She continues to play it safe because she may yet come back and run for Senator one day here after her time in the Obama administration is done. However, if she gets appointed to SCOTUS, which is a lifetime appointment, she may very well come out not too long after.

  • Name: Jelly
    Date posted: 5/13/2009 9:40:00 AM
    Hometown: Washington

    Comment:

    I'm surprised there has been no discussion that David Souter has, for a long time, been presumed to be gay. I live in DC, and it is known widely here that Souter shares a home with a long-term male companion. Why the total absense of any discussion about Souter's personal life in the media? To me, it makes his sexuality seem all the more conspicuous.



More Online Only
  • Art Slideshow Flag Artist Spotlight: Que Duong

    A fortune-teller told Que Duong's mother he would amount to nothing — which is why he gives everything he has to each photo he takes.

  • Music Thicke and Juicy

    Sexy soul singer Robin Thicke opens up about his Precious wife, homophobia in the music industry, and the gay men who’ve shaped his life and love since childhood. 

  • Internet Herman on Why He Wants to Stop H8

    Fitness trainer, Real World alum, and marriage equality advocate Scott Herman took some time between crunches to tell The Advocate that his concern for gay rights isn't manufactured, and he doesn't mind men checking him out.

  • News Celebration of Courage Not So Courageous

    Advocate contributor Michael Lucas says the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission needs to be doing more to stop violence against gays and lesbians in countries "oppressed by Islam."

  • Commentary The Truth Behind Her Name Was Steven

    Advocate contributor Eden Lane says CNN's Her Name Was Steven will help raise the visibility of trans people on TV, but the most compelling part of Susan Stanton's journey was left to a title card at the end of the film.

  • Television Laverne, Surely

    I Want to Work for Diddy alum Laverne Cox leads a trio of transgender ladies in VH1’s Transform Me, a new makeover show that flatters her hooker-heavy résumé.

  • Music Cherie’s Jubilee

    With The Runaways, the new film about her life with Joan Jett, pioneering rock star Cherie Currie is enjoying a renaissance ... with a little help from Dakota Fanning.

  • Activism Sex-Ed Student Turns Teen Activist

    When sex education classes at Danny Sparks's high school failed to address the issues important to him, he took matters into his own hands ... and became an activist in the process.

  • Photography Slideshow Flag Artist Spotlight: Ryan Colford

    From his "candy shoppe" line — sweet treats made oh-so sexy — to his black and white studies of the male form, photographer Ryan Colford exposes the beauty of the male body.

  • Commentary What Massa Could Learn From Ashburn

    COMMENTARY: Matthew S. Bajko says Republican California state senator Roy Ashburn deserves praise for coming out of the closet despite his antigay voting record. Now, if only former congressman Eric Massa would follow his lead.

  • Music The Truth About Tracy and Kim

    Don’t be tardy for this party! DJ Tracy Young comes clean — mostly — about her rumored lesbian relationship with Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak.

  • News Video Content Flag Kids Say the Darndest Things

    Micah Schraft and his boyfriend, John, were filming Micah's family at Thanksgiving when the 5-year-old son of a family friend wanted to know if the two were husbands. The result is a video you have to see. 

  • Commentary The Importance of Being Counted

    With benefits from boosting hate-crimes and marriage equality laws to simply letting legislators know gay Americans indeed exist, the 2010 Census is a chance to stand up and be counted.

1037 COVER X135 | ADVOCATE.COM