Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln - Flicks (2024)

he is considered a sacred figure by both Republicans and Democrats he led the nation through its greatest crisis he's on our currency we build monuments to him he's the greatest president the United States has ever had today the big question that people are asking is was Abraham Lincoln gay lover of men The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln that is quite a title isn't it you might assume they're just trying to catch your eyes or ears but it's actually a deep scholarly approach and the question was since people did things slightly differently in the 19th century what evidence were they producing there two pieces of evidence we show in the film one is that Lincoln had a mentor named William Butler who um who who is one of his main mentors and there we have a piece of evidence that shows that Butler says in the letter Hey listen I just paid off some of your debts Lincoln my wife is mending your clothes and while you're at it when you move to Springfield come my home your home come and move with me and instead of moving in with his mentor who's paying off his debts and his wife is washing his clothes he moves in with a perfect stranger Joshua speed and within that you have to ask yourself okay maybe that makes sense at first L it's just moving to town he can't afford it bed sharing's common Lincoln is a double income earner he's a lawyer and it becomes a more successful lawyer in that four years and he's a legislature sharing was common as a short-term solution but four years is unheard of beautifully said Sean it's uh Lincoln and speed um there's a there are numerous letters recognizing their intimacy and intimacy itself is for two men or for two women to be intimate that said a lot that was a a mark of being a soulmate and so that this understanding of um intimacy uh is is is crucial to appr appreciating and understanding Lincoln's relationship with speed there's no Scandal that was created because everyone just accepted it you have to think of the 19th century is a very different time than today there haven't been a lot of films or not a lot of writings that the public has seen about the 19th century version of sexuality and intimacy now everyone knows about the Greeks and the Romans right but that carried out up until very recently up from the 19 century all the way back to the beginning of time it's said by Michael bronsky one of our Scholars from Harvard he said people just went into their sexual impulses throughout history but what it meant throughout history was very different and right now especially in 2024 it can mean something very bad to people but it's very human and history has proven that thank you very much and uh best wishes thank you so much thanks for your time great seeing you flicks with Patrick Stoner explores the craft and culture of film making that enhance our communities for television stations and websites around the country right [Music]