![\"wall](\"http:\/\/blogs.orlandosentinel.com\/sports-sentinel-sports-now\/files\/2010\/05\/kaganwsj.jpg\")
Even before last week\u2019s announcement of Solicitor General Elena Kagan as President Barack Obama\u2019s Supreme Court nominee, a whisper campaign had been started in speculating her sexual orientation. A former Bush administration aide and Republican Senate staffer had written in a CBS news blog last month that Obama\u2019s then probable selection of the former Harvard Law School dean to be \u201cthe first openly gay justice,\u201d would please his political base of supporters. The Obama White House has vehemently denied the charges. CBS initially defended the blog post, and then deleted it in the days following after the author, Ben Domenech, admitted that it was just a rumor. The subject of Kagan\u2019s sexual orientation once again became a flashpoint for media discussion as the Wall Street Journal published a front page story on the Supreme Court nominee with an accompanying picture of her playing softball in 1993 while teaching at the University of Chicago. Gay rights advocates accused the newspaper of playing to a popular allusion between the sport and lesbianism. Another Rupert Murdoch owned publication, The New York Post, picked up on the story by running a headline asking, \u201cDoes this photo suggest high court nominee Elena Kagan is a lesbian?\u201d Critics say all insinuations in the media, such as those in the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers, are irrelevant and serve only right-wing detractors who promote them over legitimate legal questions. To date, the Solicitor General has never claimed to be a lesbian or even a \u2018gay rights advocate.\u201d <\/p>\n