SCOTUS nominee Kagan

Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is about to undergo some serious questioning. I've been keeping an eye on various stories, and one recently caught my eye on Twitter. Melissa Harris Lacewell, a Princeton Professor and frequent contributor to MSNBC tweeted that the question came up in class of Kagan's sexual orientation, it seems she is presumed gay and closeted. So the question was does it make a difference that she is closeted? I am not a member of the LGBT community, but I think the decision to come out has to be a personal one. Do I believe she has a responsibility as a public figure, who could be viewed as a role model? Yes I do. However, ultimately I don't think I or anyone else has the right to force our opinion on someone else.

In fact, I see this issue as being very similar to the issue of abortion. I am Pro-Choice. I don't believe I could ever have an abortion, but that is ME. I don't actually know what I would do in an extreme circumstance, and I do not feel that I have the right to say what someone else should do. I think that every woman has to make that decision for themselves, and I don't think anyone else ( i.e the government) has a right to tell them that they cannot choose to terminate a pregnancy. My mother considers my Pro Choice stance to be her greatest failure as a parent, btw. As I said, I thin the decision as to what to do in a case of unwanted pregnancy is similar to the decision as to when or if to come out of the closet. Personal to each individual, and not something that should be a matter of consensus. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion, they will regardless, they just don't have a right to impose that opinion on someone else.

Just my opinion obviously!