Rumors About Supreme Court Frontrunner Elena Kagan

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - Some rumors are swirling about the sexual orientation of the frontrunner on President Obama's short list for the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Elena Kagan.

Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz writes today that he is surprised that the gay rumors ever hit the web, "I am surprised to see this hit the Web, but Atlantic's Marc Ambinder , widely regarded as a fair reporter, puts it in play."

According to Atlantic , people who know Kagan say they don't think she is a lesbian despite a whisper campaign that has been launched by gay rights activists and social conservatives.

ABC News reports that Obama is set to announce the nominee that will replace Justice John Paul Stevens – who announced his retirement on Friday – by early May.

"It will also be someone who, like Justice Stevens, knows that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens," said Obama, who is reportedly looking at six women and four men as potential nominees .

Kagan is considered to be the top candidate as the former dean of Harvard Law School before serving in the White House as associate counsel and then deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy and deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council from 1995 to 1999.

Since she is the current solicitor general in Obama's administration, after being sworn in last March, she already argues the United States' position in the Supreme Court and is expected to build alliances once in the Supreme Court post.

According to Fox News Kagan has a long history of academic achievements attending Worcester College in Oxford and as Princeton's Daniel M. Sachs Graduating Fellow.

She has also served as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School in 1991, before becoming a law professor in 1995.