Outing Abe :: BC professor questions Lincoln's sexuality

On Monday, Feb. 18, most Americans celebrated Presidents Day with the usual act of 21st century patriotism; silently toasting a bunch of dead guys for extra sleep and a three-day weekend.

Today's Democratic primaries in Hawaii and Wisconsin continue the civic-minded conversation, with voters rallying support for either the first female president or the first black president.

However, if you think the idea of a gay Commander in Chief opening up shop in the Oval Office seems far fetched ... think again.

According to Charles E. Morris III, associate professor of Communications at Boston College, we may have already seen the first gay president.

"There is strong evidence that Abraham Lincoln had very strong relationships with men," says Morris, "and tantalizing but circumstantial evidence that he may have had sexual relationships with some of them."

Oh, the scandal.

Morris is in the midst of writing a book on his research, a still half-finished tome that will detail evidence of Lincoln's gay history. It will also investigate the public and academic dialogue that has ensued since speculation about his sexuality was first aired--at least, in the popular press--in the late '90s.

"This is highly contested terrain," says Morris, who says the wild reactions to new disclosures about Lincoln's sexuality are even more interesting than the "was he or wasn't he" speculation. "What interests me most is how this has become a battleground over who has the authority and power to interpret his life."

Indeed, it's frequently opined that history has been written by the winners... and gay historians have often lost the battle of public opinion. Previous writings on the topic of Lincoln's sexuality, including and especially C.A. Tripp's posthumously published "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln," have been met with substantial controversy; after all, this isn't one of those forgettable, powder-wigged fat cats that you never could name in grade school.

Scholars like Tripp and Morris are speaking of one of American history's most famous faces, a vestige that has shown up on everything from Mt. Rushmore to the $5 bill.

Still, Morris points to strong evidence that Lincoln's relationships with men were marked by peculiarly strong bonds of affection, intimacy and, quite possibly, sexual activity.

"When he lived in Salem, Illinois in his early 20s... he slept with a boy named Billy Greene," says Morris, referring to Lincoln's friend and bunkmate, a relationship undisputed even by historians who maintain the president's heterosexual history. Of greater debate is the nature of that friendship; that they shared a bed is one matter, but Morris points to Greene's documented comments on Lincoln as "leading some to believe that they had a sexual relationship."

In his book "Herndon's Life of Lincoln," biographer William Herndon was the one to record one of Greene's most salacious comments, a response to his first impression of the future President: "Well and firmly built," was Greene's answer. "His thighs were as perfect as a human being's could be."

Lincoln's relationship with Joshua Speed, another lifelong friend and his bedmate of four years, is also often described in romantic terms.

"People who knew them very well described them as something like soul mates," says Morris of Lincoln and Speed. Again, while the intense nature of this bond is undisputed by historians, naysayers dismiss the unusual sleeping arrangement as a simple act of necessity in the cold winters of 19th century Illinois.

"It wasn't always winter, and it wasn't always cold," retorts Morris.

Lincoln formed a number of other strong male bonds, including well documented relationships with his secretary John Hay, a young Yankee soldier named Elmer Ellsworth and bodyguard David Derickson; Lincoln even slept with the latter in the absence of the First Lady.

All of these relationships have received equal scrutiny and interpretation from both sides of the historic aisle. Gay historians champion them as examples of Lincoln's questionable sexuality, while others--who Morris categorizes as the powerful "Lincoln Establishment" of authoritative scholars--dismiss them as admittedly intense but otherwise benign relationships in the "father/son" vein.

Morris hopes his book will shed more light on the debate, though he admits one of the greatest challenges is avoiding the imposition of contemporary ideas of sexuality on a period of time that was, interestingly enough, less concerned with stringent labels.

"In many ways, the word 'gay' isn't even an appropriate term [in the discussion]," admits Morris. "It's tricky, in the sense that it doesn't seem as though men in the 19th century--even those who had sex with other men--had the same kind of associations [that we do] with those relationships; the nature of them, what they were, and what it implied about them."

While Morris cautions against "projecting ideas of 20th century gay identity" on to the mores of a different era, he still regards this grey area of Lincoln's life as deserving sexual exploration. "We won't call it a gay identity [per se]," says Morris. "But there were men [in the 19th century] who had sex with men where it was not just a physical act; it was bound up in affection, and you can't just call it a romantic friendship. It's something else, something more complicated."

Besides illuminating the importance of nuance, Morris' book hopes to discuss the varied reactions to conjecture on Lincoln's sexuality. While it's no surprise that conservative pundits are quick to raise an uproar over these assertions, the comparatively mute reaction from the gay community--one that occasionally borders on disinterest--is somewhat shocking.

"I think it's very unfortunate that our [gay] community doesn't care as much about our history as we should," says Morris. After all, he says, the consequences of a new understanding of Lincoln could be subtle but far-reaching.

"The question of Lincoln's sexuality might not matter to what he did in his own life," says Morris of the President's political legacy. "But it matters to those who came after him, for whom sexuality is a prominent political issue."

Not to mention a liability.

"If we gained a foothold on the story about Lincoln loving other men, that changes the way he is taught from grade school through high school," says Morris, who believes having a gay (or at the very least, non-hetero) role model could help normalize acceptance of gay men and women and "might make a difference in the lives of kids."

For that matter, it might make a difference in American society if mainstream audiences were forced to reevaluate the personal life of a classic Presidential hero. Why else would critics be so eager to squelch the debate?

"It irritates me greatly that prominent historians--who know that there are ambiguities and question marks about Lincoln's relationships with men--try very hard to erase, silence and block people who want to find out [the truth] for themselves," says Morris.

"I do sense that there is sometimes hetero-normativity and in some cases homophobia at work," says Morris. "Many people don't want their champion, their icon, and their hero to be identified as queer."

And in that resistance is the greatest irony of all.

"Most scholars have a longstanding love affair with Lincoln," says Morris. "It's hard not to fall for him."