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Thursday, January 13, 2005
Lincoln's Wing-Wang
Enough people read Instapundit that I don't usually push his pieces, but...
The other day, I read a very sharp piece on Lincoln's sexuality by Richard Brookhiser. Other folks, too, have been responding to a new book claiming that Lincoln was gay. My own take on the whole thing is that Lincoln was an odd man, and being the truest sort of man's man have been involved, but it seems a) unlikely and b) unimportant.
Gay activists looking for heroes to sell are going to have a hard time making us think of the man who signed the Emancipation Proclamation and led us through the Civil War as America's First Gay President (besides which, the awful James Buchanan is said by some to be a likelier candidate for that title - not only gayer, but he preceded Lincoln). Selling Lincoln on the basis of "Yes, he freed the slaves, but he also liked other men!" seems to me unlikely to sell any better than Oliver Stone's Alexander the Great - "Forget that he conquered the known world - he liked boys!" biopic did.
Which brings us to Instantman's excellent summary of the above:WAS LINCOLN GAY? Andrew Sullivan cares, and so do the folks at The Weekly Standard. I can't seem to, though. The guy saved the nation, and I'm supposed to care about where he put his wing-wang? Precisely.
posted by gbarto at 1:30 AM
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