New documentary claims that Abraham Lincoln had boyfriends

2 months ago 18

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OK, kids, we’re taking a slight pivot from documentaries on fabulous women to talk about a documentary on a fabulous president. Yass, sisters, dust off your best stovepipe hats cause the gay gods are gifting us with a doc that explores the (alleged) boyfriends of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln! Is it Hanukkah? Or my birthday? (No to both.) The only negative thing I can think of to say is, why didn’t they hustle to get this out in theaters for Pride Month?? Backing up a bit, People Mag just nabbed the exclusive debut of the new trailer for Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, in which “preeminent Lincoln scholars and never before seen photographs and letters” detail the hitherto untold tale of ALL the loves of Lincoln’s life. Can you tell I’m excited?

PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the trailer for the upcoming documentary Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, which peels back the curtain on the 19th-century president’s private life and examines Lincoln’s relationships with men before he was elected president in 1860.

Directed by filmmaker Shaun Peterson, Lover of Men features interviews with over a dozen scholars, historians and experts on Lincoln’s life. The trailer emphasizes his near mythical stature in American culture.

“Lover of Men examines the intimate life of America’s most consequential president, Abraham Lincoln,” reads an official synopsis for the upcoming film. “As told by preeminent Lincoln scholars and never before seen photographs and letters, the film details Lincoln’s romantic relationships with men.”

The movie uses historical evidence of Lincoln’s romantic relationships to then widen “its lens into the history of human sexual fluidity and focuses on the profound differences between sexual mores of the nineteenth century and those we hold today,” the synopsis reads.

“The film fills in an important missing piece of American history and challenges the audience to consider why we hold such a limited view of human sexuality,” the film’s synopsis concludes. “Lover of Men is not only an exploration of gender roles and sexual identity, but also serves as an examination of American intolerance.”

Lincoln’s sexuality has been examined over the years, including a 1999 feature story in Salon magazine and a 2005 book by author Clarence Arthur Tripp titled The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, among other works.

“Years in the making…my passion project has come to life,” filmmaker Peterson wrote on Instagram of the movie in May.

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln is coming soon to theaters nationwide.

[From People]

The standout quotes to me from the trailer (so far) are, “He was seen wearing Lincoln’s nightshirt!” and “Freud was devastating for sexuality.” (Talk about penis envy!) We all know there’s gonna be a contingency out there who lose their ever-loving minds over the notion that Abe was fluid. Speaking personally, I first encountered the idea REDACTED decades ago when I was in middle school. I had to do a report on Dr. Paul Ehrlich, inventor of the “magic bullet” approach to targeting microbes, which led to the first effective treatment for syphilis. As part of my research for that report, I came across a list of historical figures that had strong, anecdotal evidence (based on symptoms) of having had syphilis. Lincoln’s name was there, and they didn’t suggest he caught it from Mary Todd, wink wink.

If this has ignited the Lincoln itch in you, and since we don’t know how long “coming soon” will be, may I humbly recommend some options to whet your appetites: there’s the HBO doc Living With Lincoln, available on Max. It came out in 2015, and I definitely want to revisit it now because it was about a family steeped in Lincoln memorabilia, so I’m curious to see how their material will stack up to the “never before seen” items Lover of Men promises. And next I recommend Manhunt, the Apple TV+ series about the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth. Tobias Menzies is excellent as the Secretary of War who leads the hunt. Fair warning, though: the historically-accurate discussions of insurrection are quite something to take in from the vantage of our current climate. They don’t beat you over the head with the parallels, it’s just so undeniably apparent.