New documentary claims that Abraham Lincoln was gay

Two days ago, a new documentary trailer came out asking the presidential question on everyone’s mind: was Abraham Lincoln gay?

The trailer is for the documentary Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, which according to its website aims to examine “the intimate life of America’s most consequential president, Abraham Lincoln. As told by preeminent Lincoln scholars, historical recreations and never before seen photographs and letters, the film details Lincoln’s romantic relationships with men.”

Experts are quoted in the documentary talking about different aspects of Lincoln’s love life. “Lincoln probably slept in the same bed with men more than he did with women,” one expert says in the trailer.

Other citations include Lincoln’s relationship with Joshua Speed, which has been referenced many times as evidence for his romantic attraction to men. The two shared a bed for years and exchanged very intimate letters with one another.

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However, it should be noted that while many historians do argue that Lincoln was gay, the most prominent take among experts is that Lincoln was straight and his behaviors were more typical among men at the time, who generally had a more intimate set of behaviors with friends than is seen today.

Nevertheless, the documentary claims to have new evidence (remember those “never before seen photographs and letters”!) so it will remain to be seen how this impacts the decades-long debate over Lincoln’s sexuality and whether it will impact consensus.

It should also be noted that Lincoln isn’t the only historical U.S. president to have debates over whether he was gay. James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861, has many more proponents that he was in fact gay.

The trailer concludes by saying, “If you can accept a queer Lincoln, you can accept queer people overall, he should inspire us to achieve a true democracy for everyone.” Check it out for yourself below.