America's First Gay President? (general, 1920s, crimes, American)
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I think our obsession is trying to read into these things in history. We really aren't ever going to find out what the real sexuality of these past presidents were. Bottom line: who really cares? It isn't going to change the future one bit. We have bigger fish to fry. We need to focus on how to improve our situation today.
I think our obsession is trying to read into these things in history. We really aren't ever going to find out what the real sexuality of these past presidents were. Bottom line: who really cares? It isn't going to change the future one bit. We have bigger fish to fry. We need to focus on how to improve our situation today.
I agree we should not obsess nor put too much importance on the actual sex lives of important people in history. The educational value of knowing if Buchanan was gay, Abe Lincoln might have had bisexual tendencies, or that Eleanor Roosevelt had a passionate relationship with another woman just helps us have a better and more realistic understanding of the fluidity of human sexuality. In this regard Europeans are more honest about the lives of their rulers than we are.
We Americans often still cling to the pretty myths that George Washington cut down the cherry tree, that Betsy Ross created the first flag, that Thomas Jefferson couldn't father a child by one of his slaves, or that Dwight Eisenhower didn't commit adultery and have a mistress.
No, it shouldn't matter. The more important question was that person's historical legacy. Still, it's fun to know who was doing what to whom ... if it wasn't we wouldn't have tabloids or movie gossip magazines.
Toward that end, if people haven't discovered the CSPAN "Presidents" and "First Ladies" series, you have a MASSIVE treat in store. They started these several years ago now. They go to a historical site associated with each president, give you a little summary of their presidency, then have a call in show with 2-3 historians who have written books (sometimes multiple books) about that president -- and open the phone lines to the public for open questions for about 2-3 hours. Any question is fair game. Completely fascinating what people ask, and what the historians know. After they finished doing all the presidents, they went back and did all the first ladies as well.
I mean, really, when was the last time you were glued to the TV watching a two hour show about Millard Fillmore? But I'm telling you, if you've got a historical bone in your body, you find yourself riveted to see what the next question is.
And the very best thing? If you missed them when they were broadcast, you can watch them at your convenience, for free, through the archives of cspan.org
It was kind of a mixed bag concerning homosexuality in the 19th century.
First, being caught in homosexual acts was a much bigger issue, resulting in the death penalty in many states. Nobody was open about being a homosexual. However, in some ways it was probably easier to get away with being gay in the closet back then than even today. Homosexuality was not yet perceived as an orientation. Men could also get away with things back then without others thinking they were gay that they couldn't today because of homophobia. Back then, intimacy didn't have to be sexual. For instance, through 21st century eyes, Abe Lincoln having another guy he slept in the same bed with regularly would almost certainly mean there was some kind of homosexual relationship going on. In the culture of the 19th century, that might or might not have been the case.
It was kind of a mixed bag concerning homosexuality in the 19th century.
First, being caught in homosexual acts was a much bigger issue, resulting in the death penalty in many states. Nobody was open about being a homosexual. However, in some ways it was probably easier to get away with being gay in the closet back then than even today. Homosexuality was not yet perceived as an orientation. Men could also get away with things back then without others thinking they were gay that they couldn't today because of homophobia. Back then, intimacy didn't have to be sexual. For instance, through 21st century eyes, Abe Lincoln having another guy he slept in the same bed with regularly would almost certainly mean there was some kind of homosexual relationship going on. In the culture of the 19th century, that might or might not have been the case.
Call me naive but I don't think sleeping in the same bed is proof of anything. Especially when people had large families and tiny homes. Sharing a bed was a necessity. When you grow up sharing beds then it feels, and likely is, completely ordinary.
Sharing a bed at that time in history means almost nothing.
In what states were consensual homosexual acts a capital offense? I have seen compilations of every known legal execution in the U. S. for that period but never one listed for that.
It was kind of a mixed bag concerning homosexuality in the 19th century.
First, being caught in homosexual acts was a much bigger issue, resulting in the death penalty in many states. Nobody was open about being a homosexual. However, in some ways it was probably easier to get away with being gay in the closet back then than even today. Homosexuality was not yet perceived as an orientation. Men could also get away with things back then without others thinking they were gay that they couldn't today because of homophobia. Back then, intimacy didn't have to be sexual. For instance, through 21st century eyes, Abe Lincoln having another guy he slept in the same bed with regularly would almost certainly mean there was some kind of homosexual relationship going on. In the culture of the 19th century, that might or might not have been the case.
According to this anti-capital punishment site, between 1608 and 2002 there were 15 executions for sodomy/buggery/bestiality out of a total of 14,810 total executions in lands that became part of the U. S., or in the U. S. proper. During the same period there were 35 executions for witchcraft, and I would be willing to bet that any execution for a consensual homosexual act occurred during that same period (I am pretty sure the colonial period only covered the time they were English colonies).
In what states were consensual homosexual acts a capital offense? I have seen compilations of every known legal execution in the U. S. for that period but never one listed for that.
I think capital punishment for "Sodomy/Buggery" mostly came to an end with American Independence. Thomas Jefferson was against it. He recommended castration as opposed to execution.
Speaking of American Independence, it is very likely Baron von Steuben was gay. He was facing criminal charges in Europe for homosexual conduct and he wasn't keen on coming to America to help organize our Continental Army, but he had few options. He came here with his boyfriend in tow.
I think capital punishment for "Sodomy/Buggery" mostly came to an end with American Independence. Thomas Jefferson was against it. He recommended castration as opposed to execution.
Speaking of American Independence, it is very likely Baron von Steuben was gay. He was facing criminal charges in Europe for homosexual conduct and he wasn't keen on coming to America to help organize our Continental Army, but he had few options. He came here with his boyfriend in tow.
How generous of Thomas Jefferson to favor castration over death. Of course he never considered it a crime to sexually exploit slaves.
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