Abraham Lincoln True Diversity (AUDIO)

We all have been taught that Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer & statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the nation through the American Civil War & succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government & modernizing the U.S. economy. Let’s celebrate Lincoln’s birthday as we re-revisit the interesting theory that Abraham Lincoln might have been our first LGBTQ president referencing Carl Sandburg who alluded to the early relationship of Lincoln & his friend Joshua Fry Speed as having "a streak of lavender & spots soft as May violets" in his 1926 biography. "Streak of lavender" was a term of an effeminate man in those days & later it implied homosexuality. Then in 1999 playwright & activist Larry Kramer claim that he had uncovered previously unknown documents while conducting research for his work-in-progress, The American People: A History claiming to be found hidden in the floorboards of the old store once shared by Lincoln & Joshua Speed. Just think how amazingly supportive that would be for our LGBTQ kids to know that they had a role model in Abraham Lincoln. I talked with author Lee Wind in this exclusive audio interview about his novel “Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill” that actually centers around Wyatt a 15 year old dealing with his sexuality in a homophobic small town who discovers this theory about Abraham Lincoln's relationship with Joshua Fry Speed a Springfield, Illinois merchant who met Lincoln in 1837. Wyatt can't help feel that if the world knew about this relationship perhaps they would treat our LGBTQ community differently.