The theory that Abraham Lincoln might have been queer is nothing new, and with the help of a new documentary, it’s making a nationwide resurgence in the news.
When historians line up all the evidence, its implications are staggering. Though platonic bed-sharing was commonplace in the nineteenth century, there is something to be said about two men, perfectly wealthy enough to afford their own homes, who choose to cohabitate — and even more when the end of that arrangement leaves one of them with suicidal depression. Indeed, this was the dynamic between President Lincoln and businessman Joshua Fry Speed, who is considered one of the emancipator’s closest companions. “I am the most miserable man living,” Lincoln wrote of Speed’s untimely absence, which he called the “fatal first,” in an 1841 letter. “Now, to remain as I am is impossible. I must die.”
The nature of Lincoln and Speed’s relationship, among several more of the President’s rumored flings, is exhaustively detailed in Shaun Peterson’s new documentary, “Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln.” Recounted by twenty of the theory’s leading scholars, the film delves into four of the President’s purported affairs with men: “First love” Billy Greene, Speed, army officer Elmer Ellsworth, and bodyguard David Derickson. Along the way, the filmmakers unearth never-before-seen evidence to fuel the flames, leaving valuable retellings of the President’s most important relationships in their wake. “This is an important piece of American history that has been suppressed and hidden,” producer Rob Rosenheck told Variety. “We are presenting historical evidence [here].”
The filmmaking team’s intentions come from a place of impassioned spite. Beginning his research in the early 2000s, director Peterson found himself enamored with literature on Lincoln’s queerness, from Gore Vidal essays to scholarly resources. Later, even after presenting months of research that pointed at the theory’s veracity, the answer he received from historians was always the same: No way. “I started pitching different incarnations of this story dating back to 2008. The response I kept getting was, ‘C’mon. This can’t be true,’” he remembered of the dissent. “I was like, ‘I’m so sick of hearing that. Let me just make a documentary.’”
Sixteen years later, “Lover of Men” screened in theaters for a limited run of two days, just long enough to garner national attention. As anticipated, the outcry was loud; “Can’t wait until we hear that John Wilkes Booth shot [Lincoln] out of homophobia,” Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro mocked on X. Elon Musk, too, sarcastically commented, “Everyone knows he was a gay vampire!” The replies to their posts are multitudinous with similar hate, with users calling the film “garbage,” “propaganda,” and more vitriol.
Shapiro and Musk have yet to confirm if they’ve seen the film. What the filmmakers stress in “Lover of Men,” however, is that scrutinizing the evidence wouldn’t matter for many objectors; the thought of a queer president is invariably shunned. “Historians say that Lincoln is the ultimate symbol of America, and to many people that’s white and heteronormative,” Rosenheck argued. “So, the premise of a queer Abraham Lincoln is a threat to people who are afraid of ‘the other.’”
Although outlets like Variety and Time call the film’s main points compelling, some argue that the expectation of pushback urged scholars to exaggerate certain evidence. “[One historian] needed to calm down; he was getting a little heated over made-up arguments,” said Letterboxd reviewer Kylerbro. Film critic Nora MacIntyle added, “Some cases make for a better argument than others … the evidence presented for [a few subjects] is less robust, more or less born of extrapolations — even if logical.”
While debates remain heated over some specifics in “Lover of Men,” many still stand by the film’s most important aspect: its principle. The filmmakers argue that recognizing one of America’s most respected presidents as queer shouldn’t be repulsive, and suppressing the discussion is a symptom of a larger problem. “The issue here isn’t, ‘did Abraham Lincoln have sexual relations with a series of men?’” Rosenheck emphasized to Variety. “The question is, are we [as a country] ok with that idea?”
To explore this point, much of the documentary veers away from Lincoln to focus on queer history as a whole, beginning with the normalcy of same-sex affection in the 19th century and ending with the religious, then widespread, homophobia which stamped it out decades later. “Lincoln wasn’t some sort of outlier. It was a much more accepted behavior [back then],” Peterson underscored. In the President’s time, the film argues, nothing was unordinary about his affairs—unearthed letters even mention it in passing, as though it were trivial gossip. Now centuries into the future, modernity and carefully-cultivated oppression have changed its legacy; America seems wholly unprepared to even talk about a queer Lincoln. With “Lover of Men,” the filmmakers dig into this drastic shift in perspective while highlighting the positive impact that unshrouding the President’s sexuality could have on America today.
“Our film might upset members of a potential audience, but that is not our concern,” Rosenberg proudly stated. “That’s because we are presenting historical evidence with 20 prominent scholars from prestigious universities who have all come to the same conclusion: [t]hat Lincoln was a lover of men.” If this sentence starts conversations, then Peterson and Rosenberg’s goals are achieved.
“Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln” is available to stream on Prime Video.
