Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln

I'm an actual historian as my job so I was quite excited about this film. I knew something about Joshua Speed but nothing of the other three "male loves" I really liked the enormous collection of 19th and early 20th century photos showing two same sex people looking very close and loving in every photo. But yet we are rightly told most of these are not "gay couples" as we think of them today. For a variety of reasons men and women would often sleep with a close same gender friend, tell them they loved them and spend quite a lot of time together. Society was very different then - men and women were mostly separated in every day life and there were many situations where there were a lot of men and few to no women.

It truly seemed as if Lincoln DID have romantic love for Speed. There were so many amazing letters and documents highlighted as well as it was just beautifully shot. The reinactments were well done and enlightening. I was loving this.

THEN in the last third it started to focus on the modern gay rights movement after making the case that the past relationships were NOT like modern "queer" relationships. Ok but a strong case WAS made that Lincoln loved men more then women. Ok fine but WHYYYY did they have to go into"queer tik tok" and show trans influencers?!?? This has ZERO to do with modern social media trans issues. There were not even any cross dressers shown in the vintage segments. Just irritating and made an excellent film suddenly look cheap. Why is Alok in this? And they lost three stars just for showing Dylan Mulvaney. Just NO!!!

Abraham Lincoln was a gay man who married a woman to advance his political career. He had several male lovers but American history had a way of keeping this covered up for over a hundred years. Abraham Lincoln had a male lover in the White House while he was President of the United States. This documentary proves that he had several male lovers throughout his lifetime and that he had to hide this side of his true nature. After many years of speculation, finally, the truth is revealed. It is spectacular that we had a gay President of the United States. We should be proud of the fact that one of our greatest presidents of all time was a gay man.

Lover of Men offers a fresh and intimate look at Abraham Lincoln, shedding light on aspects of his personal relationships that traditional history often overlooks. Through meticulous research and documented evidence, the film challenges conventional narratives, inviting viewers to explore a side of Lincoln that feels both human and complex.

With a seamless blend of visuals, archival material, and interviews, it delivers an emotional and thought-provoking experience. Lover of Men is essential viewing for anyone interested in history's untold stories and the personal forces that shape public legacies.

This was both extremely well produced and informed, and also entertaining and reveals a true history of LGBTQ peoples history in America. The Civil War over human rights mirrors what we see happening today with those in power using fear of the "other" to remain in control and divide our citizens. If someday we the people could stop being afraid of each other and realize that it's not us causing the problems, it's those who seek to control all and use us for their profit. The reenactment was sweet and caring and showed Lincoln as an entire and complicated person who was truly empathetic and kind. Made my bestie go with me and we had so much fun for watching a biopic.

Feel the need to start by saying I have no problem with Abraham Lincoln being gay; in fact, with no prior knowledge of historical documentation, it does not surprise me that he stepped out with men in the sense that, as the movie itself states, homosexuality was only an issue for a lot of folks in the 1900s and the idea that it was a duty for a man like Lincoln to marry and have heirs was more of an issue in his time over who he has fun with as a bachlor.

I'll admit I did find the evidence and the dramatization of Lincolon's relationships with men laughable. This is mostly a knock to the filmmaker's style. He made a movie subtitled The Untold story of Abraham Lincoln so he stretches out what felt like a 12min topic as lengthy as possible to justify a documentary that's almost two hours. I could be wrong about the info all together but it just felt like there was not enough and they just became too detailed and drawn out to the point that it made me giggle, but to be fair, I think Lincoln as the subject matter worked to get me in the seat, and the full range of the movie deals with the concept of homosexuality as a construct. For me, it was a perfect juxtaposition that they used Lincoln, best known for ending slavery, to compare racism and homophobia. I'm not the person who needs the speech, but I got the message, and I loved it. If anything, the film expresses something I believe in, and it will make it easier for me to express my opinion. Thanks.