Abraham Lincoln—Finally Proven to Have Been Gay?

A comment from a reader of Change.org’s article, “Growing Number of Historians Believe Abraham Lincoln Was Gay,” pretty much sums up how I feel about the idea of President Lincoln being gay: “Honest Abe has long been one of my favorite American presidents and if he was gay, well, then bless his little rainbow heart.” I would alter the comment only to say “big rainbow heart,” since it seems like the man likely had one.

I love the idea of President Lincoln as being gay, actually. I am in love with the fact that he wrote same-sex poetry—especially regarding the marriage of a man with a man. (I wonder why this isn’t quoted more often, especially when all of that “founding fathers” historical sentimentality comes up regarding so many issues?) Though I’ve only heard about Lincoln’s possible homosexuality in passing, the fact that more and more historians are “coming out” about the evidence surrounding it, so to speak, brought me to look at what we know historically more closely.

The fact that Lincoln was more comfortable around men than women could mean nothing or something; he did, after all, have four children with his wife. Plenty of gay men, of course, have had children with women—and Lincoln did call off his engagement with Mary Todd at least once. In Carl Sandburg’s biography of the president, an allusion to Lincoln’s romance with a man, Joshua Fry Speed, was made. The two lived together for several years, sleeping in the same bed. Some historians say that Lincoln’s depression stemmed from his homosexuality and inability to be his true self in public—something that so many people with any predilection other than “straight” suffer from still today. His own stepmother admitted that he never liked girls much, either.

None of these pieces of evidence proves Lincoln’s sexual orientation one way or another. Lincoln slept with over ten boys and men during his life, for example; but at the time, sleeping with other men was a fairly common occurrence. (Wouldn’t it be nice if it was still so casually, non-judgmentally approached?) Lincoln’s bodyguard, Captain David Derickson, also slept with the president when his wife was away.

If Abe were gay, would it make a difference? I would say a big fat yes and a big fat no. The yes would be, of course, because he would present a wonderful gay hero in history we could look up to, refer to, and be proud of having had as a president—perhaps helping pave the way for more gays in politics. The no, of course, is because it doesn’t change the man in the stovepipe hat or his policies and the legacy he left us with.