Inverted Abe

There's something about Abe -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Was Abraham Lincoln gay? As interesting as the topic itself are the gut reactions of the debate participants. On one side, you have conservative, straight Republicans who are loathe to believe that the Great Emancipator was gay. On the other hand you have strident activists like Larry Kramer who insist that the GLBT movement requires a hero. In the middle is a crowd who might be persuaded one way or the other, but they feel there should be a solid basis for the gay Lincoln theory. C.A. Tripp, a recently deceased sex researcher, authored The Intimate Life of Abraham Lincoln in 2004; Tripp himself seems more in the Larry Kramer camp and Tripp's book has truly stirred the pot. Philip Nobile is a history professor at the Cobble Hill School of American Studies; he was coauthor of said book, until he and Tripp had a parting of ways over handling of various facts. Nobile's main contention is that there is no "hard evidence" (excuse the pun) of Lincoln's gayness; in fairness to Tripp, gay liaisons would never be carefully notarized or documented then or now -- quite the opposite, they would be concealed. Furthermore, the fact that someone is married with children is no proof of a straight orientation. That is as true now as in the 19th century.

Looking at what they have, there are a couple of things that make you go "hmmm" and maybe a couple that make you go "HMMM".

hmmm:

Poem
At 20, Lincoln authored a poem about two men marrying; this is not a poem you would ever write unless the topic was really on your mind. (See wikipedia.org or Tripp’s book for full text of poem). It's a humorous narrative, not an insult or attack against gays. It's possible that a straight man could have written it.

Awkwardness with women
Both Lincoln and his longtime roommate Speed were timid and awkward with women. Both men were even fearful on their wedding nights, and were perplexed by the fair sex. Many straight men share this trait; by itself it would mean almost nothing. Taken with other things we know, it adds more shading to the picture, and that shade is lavender with an overlay of periwinkle.

HMMM:

Relationship with Joshua Speed
This is probably the most compelling thing of all. Lincoln shared a bed with Joshua Speed, the handsome lanky owner of a Springfield general store, from age 28 to age 32. The men were lifelong friends, and Lincoln is said to have been deeply depressed when Speed moved away. To say that "men shared beds because wood was scarce" (pun intended) becomes a laughable statement. How far back in American history must we go to find that austere point -- that point where two adult men sharing the same bed is viewed as an act of furniture conservation? Lincoln was a lawyer -- he could've sprung for the bed frame, mattress and sheets. In 1837, it would've set him back a powerful lot of money - roughly $10. I see no crossover point in American culture of the past 200 years, where the gay factor of this living arrangement would be any less than it is now.

Relationship with Captain David Derickson
From 1862 thru 1863, Lincoln apparently shared a bed with his bodyguard when Mrs. Lincoln was absent. Even at the time, this generated gossip with the wife of a naval aide:

"Tish says, Oh, there is a Bucktail soldier here devoted to the president, drives with him, and when Mrs. L is not home, sleeps with him. What stuff!".

Again, as with Joshua Speed, how friendly do you need to be with bodyguards and store managers? The more things change the more they stay the same -- basic human longings have not changed that much since 1862. If George W. Bush were having sleepovers with his male bodyguards, it would be all over the news. Lincoln was probably protected somewhat by the lack of paparazzi at the time.

Historian Nobile is right on one point -- we can't divine anything concrete from this. Nobile thinks that Lincoln was at least bisexual, and the record seems to bear that out. When Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass in 1852, Lincoln is said to have liked it a lot. Victorian society was becoming nascently aware of the "gay thing" and Whitman's tome had many gay allusions. Lincoln was against the grain of proper (read "hetero") society in liking Whitman; now maybe we understand why he was such a man of the arts, ahead of his time.

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