Wall St. Journal calls accusations of subliminal lesbian message in Kagan photo `absurd'
Tue. May 11, 2010 12:00 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
supreme court nominee elena kagan (1993)
photo credit // university of chicago archives
But GLAAD says it's clearly a message about sexuality
Chicago, IL -
The Wall Street Journal is defending the use of a 17-year-old photo of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan playing softball.
The photo was on the front page of the Tuesday, May 11 edition.
Critics say the photo was meant to subliminally underline rumors that Kagan is a lesbian.
"It clearly is an allusion to her being gay. It's just too easy a punch line," former GLAAD spokeswoman Cathy Renna told Politico.
The Journal got the photo from the archives of the University of Chicago, where Kagan was a professor. The headline reads "Court Nominee Comes to the Plate."
Dallas Voice editor John Wright called the Journal out on his blog.
"Personally I think the newspaper, which happens to have the largest circulation of any in the U.S., might as well have gone with a headline that said, `Lesbian or switch-hitter?'" he wrote.
Wall Street Journal staffers responded sarcastically to Politico's requests for comment.
"If you turn the photo upside down, reverse the pixilation and simultaneously listen to Abbey Road backwards, while reading Roland Barthes, you will indeed find a very subtle hidden message," Journal spokeswoman Ashley Huston told Politico.
"I think your question is absurd," said Journal Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray.
The photo was on the front page of the Tuesday, May 11 edition.
Critics say the photo was meant to subliminally underline rumors that Kagan is a lesbian.
"It clearly is an allusion to her being gay. It's just too easy a punch line," former GLAAD spokeswoman Cathy Renna told Politico.
The Journal got the photo from the archives of the University of Chicago, where Kagan was a professor. The headline reads "Court Nominee Comes to the Plate."
Dallas Voice editor John Wright called the Journal out on his blog.
"Personally I think the newspaper, which happens to have the largest circulation of any in the U.S., might as well have gone with a headline that said, `Lesbian or switch-hitter?'" he wrote.
Wall Street Journal staffers responded sarcastically to Politico's requests for comment.
"If you turn the photo upside down, reverse the pixilation and simultaneously listen to Abbey Road backwards, while reading Roland Barthes, you will indeed find a very subtle hidden message," Journal spokeswoman Ashley Huston told Politico.
"I think your question is absurd," said Journal Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray.