One thing that wasn’t addressed in Tony Kushner’s script for the Oscar nominated film Lincoln was the theory that Abraham Lincoln was gay. At the heart of the speculation is Lincoln's close relationship with Joshua Speed, a Springfield, IL merchant who helped the young lawyer by allowing him to share his upstairs room & bed for four years. Speed remained a lifelong friend, despite his support of slavery & the two sent warm, affectionate letters for years, even after Lincoln moved into the White House. John Stauffer, Harvard University stated, "We are getting closer to the day that a majority of younger, less homophobic historians will at long last accept the evidence of Lincoln’s same-gender component. We’re already seeing the beginnings of a trend that will amount to a major paradigm shift. In light of what we know about romantic friendship at the time, coupled with the facts surrounding Speed’s & Lincoln’s friendship, there is no reason to suppose they weren’t physically intimate at some point during their four years of sleeping together in the same small bed, long after Lincoln could afford a bed of his own. To ignore this, as most scholars do, is to pretend that same-gender carnal relationships were abnormal. It thus presumes a dislike or fear about such relationships, reflecting a presentist and homophobic perspective." Gay Activist Larry Kramer adds, "There's no question in my mind that Abraham Lincoln was a gay man & a totally gay man. It wasn't just a period, but something that went on his whole life." Just think how the theory that Abraham Lincoln was gay could provide such a vital role model & hope for our LGBTQ teens.
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