White was one of the more conservative members of the court by the time he retired, but he kept to tradition and waited for a Democrat president to replace him since a Democrat put him on the bench. (Not all justices can do this, for health reasons).
This contrasts with David Souter, who was put on the court by Bush 41, sailed leftward, and didn’t step down until Bush 43 left office so Obama could replace him. (Souter was, and still is, quite healthy,)
And still light in the loafers.
Souter was most likely a homosexual himself, and was badly beaten while trolling (er, walking through) a Washington DC park after dark for more contacts.