The closet is deep.
And the depths of the closet are not entirely of the making of those in 'the life'.
Assiduous efforts have been made to straightwash Abraham Lincoln even to the point where it is rumored a doctoral history candidate was told his dissertation would be rejected if he showed the connection between Lincoln's letters and similar wording of contemporary love letters between men.
It wasn't until 2005 and C.A. Tripp’s The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln That the reality that Lincoln was not decidedly straight was finally aired to the public.
Just like staying in the closet itself being out is much more easier, and logical contortions are no longer needed to explain poetry like this written by Lincoln in 1829.
I will tell you a Joke about Jewel and Mary
It is neither a Joke nor a Story
For Rubin and Charles has married two girls
But Billy has married a boy
The girlies he had tried on every Side
But none could he get to agree
All was in vain he went home again
And since that is married to Natty
So Billy and Natty agreed very well
And mama’s well pleased at the match
The egg it is laid but Natty’s afraid
The Shell is So Soft that it never will hatch
But Betsy she said you Cursed bald head
My Suitor you never Can be
Beside your low crotch proclaims you a botch
And that never Can answer for me
Lincoln loved sharing a bed with male companions. Most intensely with Joshua Speed. After Speed married, exceedingly late in life, Lincoln had a tremendous breakdown that hetrocentric historians have been unable to explain the cause of. But obviously the loss of such a boon companion was just too much for Lincoln. A man already predisposed to depression.
By 1840, both Lincoln and Speed — now 31 and 26— were considered well past the marrying age. Both bachelors reportedly were hesitant to tie the knot, but it was a de-facto requirement to have a wife if you wanted to move in political circles — or at least create the perception of interest in marriage. Both Speed and Lincoln dreaded this “requirement,” as evidenced by Lincoln’s letters. Speed takes the marriage plunge first and moves back to Kentucky, leaving Lincoln. At this precise time, Lincoln suffered a mental breakdown. Historians have been all over the map as to what caused the breakdown, but it was so intense that friends, including Herndon, worried he would take his own life. Lincoln only recovered after Speed invited him to visit him and his new wife in Kentucky.
Speed was not the only man Lincoln had a relationship with, but the intensity of the relationship can no longer be hidden by the excuse of differing mores of the time.
The efforts and vehemence of those that wish to straightwash Lincoln is not uncommon. But hopefully fading into the void of ignorance they cling so tightly to.