E-Mail This Article to a Friend FUN WITH ADJECTIVES Some kind of lesbian BY DAVID S. BERNSTEIN

"Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan — an avowed lesbian, according to Concerned Women for America ..."

— WorldNet Daily

"Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan (whom [Donald Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association] describes as a practicing lesbian) ..."

— Cybercast News Service

"Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan, an out lesbian ..."

— Human Events Online

"‘...special counsel, Elaine Kaplan, who is a lesbian activist,’" [said] Bob Knight, the director of the Culture and Family Institute in Washington, D.C. ..."

— Focus on the Family

"... Elaine Kaplan, an admitted lesbian, to head the Office of Special Counsel ..."

— Jeremiah Project

"... openly lesbian appointee, Elaine Kaplan ..."

— American Spectator

The religious right is not of a single mind, after all — as you can see, they can’t agree on what variety of lesbian Elaine Kaplan is.

Kaplan’s name has come up a lot lately, as gay-rights opponents rally to block legislation that would explicitly extend anti-discrimination rights to gay federal employees. The bill is Congressman Barney Frank’s response to Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch’s insistence that existing law does not already protect those rights — even though the White House says that they do. (See "Legal Discrimination," This Just In, June 3.)

Right-wing organizations say that Kaplan, Bloch’s predecessor, improperly extended these rights to homosexual federal workers. And they imply that she did so because she herself is, you know, one of them.

Kaplan — who tells the Phoenix she prefers "attractive lesbian" or "clever lesbian" — is taking the controversy in stride.

"A number of avowed, admitted, and presumably practicing heterosexuals, including President Bush and former solicitor general Ted Olson, agree with my interpretation of the law," says Kaplan.