‘Lover of Men’ Explores Lincoln’s (Possible) Gay Male Affairs
The documentary Lover of Men makes a compelling case that Abraham Lincoln really enjoyed the company of men.
The whole truth is unknowable, and the evidence largely circumstantial, but Abraham Lincoln left ample reason to believe that he often found warmth and companionship in the arms of a man, according to several sources, including the compelling if somewhat scattered documentary Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln.
Directed by Shaun Peterson, the film assembles a roster of esteemed (mostly LGBTQ) experts on Lincoln’s life, his letters, and his loves to sketch an intimate portrait of “far and away our most important president.” Before presiding over a nation at war with itself, Abe was just a bookish young man born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, who had his first great romance in Illinois.
At least the film opens its case in the frontier town of New Salem, Illinois, where 21-year old Lincoln worked in a general store, and shared a cramped room upstairs with 19-year old co-worker Billy Greene. The two also shared the room’s one tiny cot, and probably more, in the 18 months they lived together.
Lover of Men dramatizes these episodes, and bits of each chapter in Lincoln’s life, with nostalgia-filtered glimpses of log cabins and country stores, and, occasionally, actors tenderly spooning, or playfully wrestling in the woods. The movie is careful to note that the context of homosocial relationships between men has changed considerably since the mid-19th century.
A well-paced montage of vintage photographs illustrates strikingly unguarded moments of intimacy between male subjects. We’re informed that two men sleeping together would not, under certain circumstances, and especially on the frontier, have seemed unusual in 1831.
Yet, several of the scholars and historians insist — based on Abe and Billy’s correspondence, plus a few specific quotes, facts, and common sense — that Abe didn’t bed down with Billy merely as a matter of convenience, but because he liked it.
As historian Dr. Thomas Balcerski points out, “There almost certainly was the option to not share the cot. Lincoln chose to sleep in this way, and, I would think, gained pleasure from it.”
No doubt, Greene gained pleasure, too, a point the film drives home with good-humored timing, quoting a letter Greene wrote to a friend: “The first time I saw Abraham Lincoln, he was at that time well and firmly built: his thighs were as perfect as a human being could be.”
There might be many readings of such a sentiment. To help pin it down, the film adds context, explaining that interfemoral sex — thigh sex — was a well-known practice in Abe and Billy’s day. Suggestive but not conclusive, and definitely not case-closed material, Lover of Men is still very convincing, and Billy Greene is just its first course among many.
The true love of Abe’s gay life was purportedly Joshua Fry Speed, a Southern aristocrat from a slave-owning family in Kentucky. Speed and Lincoln also shared a bed, and a home in Illinois — for four years, until their pairing came to a painful end. The film weaves the facts of their relationship into a credible, touching love story that also accounts for Abe’s evolving views on slavery.
The film does not explicitly state why anybody should care whom presidents sleep with, or why it might be important to know whether Lincoln actually was a lover of men. Why uncover this untold history? Rather, Lover of Men delves into why it might be important not to deny this history if it’s true.
Erasing same-sex love from history — especially when too many like to believe no queer people existed pre-Oscar Wilde — feeds into present-day ignorance, intolerance, and hate. A filmmaker could fill an entire other documentary exploring that subject, and Peterson almost does with digressions throughout this film, including a deep dive in its final third.
Sources of astute analysis on sexuality and gender range from Freud to interviewees Alok Vaid-Menon and Montana state representative Zooey Zephyr. At a certain point, a viewer could stumble into the discussion of 20th and 21st-century queer theory and have no idea this conversation started with Lincoln.
That is, until Lover of Men finally works the conversation back around to our (perhaps) first gay or bi president, who, apparently, slept with his handsome bodyguard as regularly as he slept with his wife. Oh Mary, indeed.
Lover of Men (★★★☆☆) is not rated but is PG in content and is playing in theaters nationwide. Visit www.fandango.com.
Lover Of Men has partnered with the Human Rights Campaign. Those who purchase tickets to see the film in theaters this weekend using this custom link will directly benefit HRC.
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