Filmmaker Shaun Peterson contends that the bulk of scholarly work on the life of President Abraham Lincoln is wrong. According to Peterson, Lincoln was a homosexual who preferred the company of men—a case he argues in a new documentary, Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, released on July 10.
The documentary “examines the intimate life of America’s most consequential president, Abraham Lincoln. As told by preeminent Lincoln scholars and never before seen photographs and letters, the film details Lincoln’s romantic relationships with men.”
“The film fills in an important missing piece of American history and challenges the audience to consider why we hold such a limited view of human sexuality,” the film’s synopsis states, continuing: “Lover of Men is not only an exploration of gender roles and sexual identity, but also serves as an examination of American intolerance.”
According to Peterson—and allegedly never before seen letters authored by Lincoln—the sixteenth American president slept with more men than he did women. The crux of the contention that Lincoln was a closeted gay man is letters he exchanged with a childhood friend, Joshua Fry Speed. “Dear Speed, I shall be very lonesome without you. Love, Lincoln,” one letter reads.
SO, WAS LINCOLN GAY?
The idea of Lincoln being a homosexual dates to a 1926 biography by Carl Sandburg, which refers to Lincoln’s relationship with Speed as having “a streak of lavender, and spots soft as May violets.”
While some have interpreted Sandberg’s words as suggesting Lincoln was a closeted gay man, in reality, the author was referring to the more vulnerable relationship between two friends, which belied their more public-facing images of masculinity.
Letters supposedly authored by Lincoln explicitly detailing his homosexuality—and ‘found’ by gay rights activist Larry Kramer in 1999—are widely believed to be a hoax.
Recent attempts to ‘queer‘ popular fictional characters have fallen flat with audiences. The National Pulse reported in May that the ratings for the latest season of the British science fiction adventure Doctor Who have crashed following the introduction of the first “openly queer” black Doctor, played by Rwandan migrant Ncuti Gatwa.
Meanwhile, Disney‘s Star Wars: Acolyte—which features predominantly nonbinary and lesbian characters—has been widely panned by viewers and even some critics.
WATCH:
show lessNEW: New documentary claims Abraham Lincoln had “steamy gay s*x sessions” with male partners.
The new film, ‘Lover of Men’ which “examines the intimate life of America’s most consequential president” is set to come out on September 6.
The evidence, according to the movie, is… pic.twitter.com/9BVHxtq3db
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 12, 2024
