As America moves forward and progresses towards a time of equality, we look forward to the day when all our LGBTQ family members can be out and proud...and inevitably, a day when we will have our first "out" President.
But that doesn't mean our past presidents haven't been a little queer, such as...
The 16th president of the United States has long been rumored to have been gay.
Numerous historians point to his rocky marriage with Mary Todd Lincoln as well as the fact that he very close relationships with several men, including Joshua Speed, who shared his bed for four years.
In the New York Times book review of "The Intimate World Of Abraham Lincoln" by C.A. Tripp, Richard Brookhiser writes:
"In 1831, when he was 22, Lincoln moved to New Salem, an Illinois frontier town, where he met Billy Greene. Greene coached Lincoln in grammar and shared a narrow bed with him. ''When one turned over the other had to do likewise,'' Greene told Herndon. Bed-sharing was common enough in raw settlements, but Greene also had vivid memories of Lincoln's physique: 'His thighs were as perfect as a human being could be.' Everyone saw that Lincoln was tall and strong, but this seems rather gushing." (x)
Several historians believe that James Buchanan, who served from 1857 to 1861, was in fact our first gay president. He is the only president to have remained a bachelor throughout his life. (His niece, Harriet Lane, handled the duties of First Lady during his term in office.) He shared a home with William Rufus King, an Alabama Senator and Vice President under Buchanan’s predecessor, Franklin Pierce. Their relationship was reportedly so close that Andrew Jackson and other contemporaries referred to them as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy”.
In one letter to a confidante dated May 13, 1844, Buchanan wrote about his life after King moved to Paris to become the American ambassador to France:
“I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.”
Other historians, however, believe that his relationship with King was in fact more complex than that, and that the book is far from closed on the matter of Buchanan’s sexuality (he was at one point engaged to be married, and went a wooing with several ladies in addition to the aforementioned gentlemen). Either way, it’s also almost impossible to know for sure: Buchanan ordered that all his correspondence be destroyed upon his death. (x)
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
There is much evidence to believe that Eleanor Roosevelt was bisexual or lesbian. The First Lady, wife to FDR, was known as "First Lady to the World" and had a long-standing relationship with another woman.
According to Lillian Faderman, author of To Believe in Women, she had a long term relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok. The two shared intimate love letters, which makes it clear that if not physical lovers, they were at the very least, very close and intimate friends. Eleanor Roosevelt penned these words to her beloved, "Funny, everything I do my thoughts fly to you. Never are you out of my heart."
Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Hickok's relationship has been documented in letters the two shared. Eleanor Roosevelt called Lorena Hickok "Hick." Here is a letter Eleanor penned to Hick on March 7, 1933:
"Hick darling,
All day I've thought of you & another birthday I will be with you, & yet tonite you sounded so far away & formal. Oh! I want to put my arms around you. I ache to hold you close. Your ring is a great comfort to me. I look at it and think she does love me, or I wouldn't be wearing it." (x)
And though he is not gay, asexual, bisexual, or any other flavor of the LGBTQ spectrum, we would be remiss to not mention the man who Newsweek has called "The First Gay President"....
“Every single American -- gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender -- every single Americandeserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a prettysimple proposition.”
President Obama values every American, and his Administration has made historic strides to expand opportunity, advance equality, honor differences and level the playing field for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people and communities. The President’s efforts have included major legislative achievements such as the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” as well as significant administrative actions in support of equality. The Obama Administration’s record in support of the LGBT community includes:
Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Ending the Legal Defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Signing Historic Hate Crimes Legislation, Ensuring Hospital Visitation Rights for LGBT Patients and Their Loved Ones, Developing and Implementing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy, Expanding Access to Health Coverage, Addressing Health Care Disparities, Ensuring Equality for LGBT Federal Government Employees, and Taking Steps to Ensure LGBT Equality in Housing and Crime Prevention. (x)
We're pretty confident there are other historically queer figures who have lived in the white house, but certainly no one we can point to as "out". Here is hoping that history changes soon, and it can change with us!
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