President Barack Obama’s announcement of Solicitor General Elaina Kagan as his pick to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court has many LGBT activists excited, given Kagan’s previous positions on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and other LGBT issues, and rumors swirling around her sexuality (these same rumors are also causing a big uproar: is her sexuality even in-bounds as the Senate and the nation debate her qualifications?). Still, Kagan is something of an unknown quantity – her positions on many issues aren’t immediately clear, and given her current role in handling several major LGBT-rights cases at the Justice Department, it’s possible she would have to recuse herself if any of those cases reached the Supreme Court.
Elsewhere…

D.C. – ENDA, flying under the radar and ready to pass (now without genital checks). But don’t forget to keep contacting your legislators: even if the bill flies through Congress like greased lightening, once it starts the markup process, right-wing groups are going to be all over legislators, filling their inboxes with form letters. (The Bilerico Project)

D.C. – Is Defense Secretary Bob Gates trying to sink President Barack Obama’s DADT repeal? At any rate, even after the health care debacle, Obama’s still frustrated that invisible Presidential leadership on DADT repeal has resulted in a long, slow, “frustrating” process. One possible reason Gates has been given such free reign (for example: calling Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “stupid”): he’s in the middle of taking on the Pentagon bureaucracy in a radical overhaul of the way the armed services buy weapons and generally spend money. (Towleroad, Danger Room)

Texas – GetEQUAL makes an “interesting” move with an impending ENDA passage probably needing lots of attention: they’re now going to protest ExxonMobil for their not-so-gay-friendly policies. (The Advocate)

Maryland – Baltimore to get an LGBT youth center. Interesting, because District 202 closed theirs down last year saying a physical space served a really small slice of youth, and an online presence could reach far more. (The Advocate)

Uganda – Is the “Kill Gays” bill dead? First, Uganda’s biggest independent newspaper says the cabinet is trying to kill the bill, now the New York Times is reporting the same thing, quoting the legislator in charge of this legislative execution saying the bill is flat-out unconstitutional. (The Box Turtle Bulletin)

The Philippines – The Philippines gets a gay political party! (The Advocate)