One of the hobbies of the academic left (but I repeat myself) is known as ‘Queering.’ In basic terms, this means taking something and looking at it through a gay lens. The result of this, a frantic effort to discover hidden validation of the modern homosexual lifestyle in the past, is typically long and pretentious papers claiming that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were gay lovers or that The Birth of a Nation was really about the D.W. Griffith’s sublimated homosexual urges and the struggle for queer liberation. Now they’ve come for Lincoln.

The basic ‘Queering’ process goes something like this. You pick through something in a desperate search for something, anything, which might be interpreted as evidence of homosexuality. You then latch onto this point with the dogged tenacity of a rabid alligator and reject any further scrutiny into this point. You reject the notion that any other evidence might be exculpatory. Shortly after you first make your assertions, you then reject any attempt to refute your claims as being the obvious product of ‘homophobia.’

Let’s consider for a moment what we know of the ‘evidence’ being presented in C. A. Tripp’s book The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln. As summed up, the evidence is something like this:

1) Lincoln entered puberty earlier (that this even makes the cut is simply a sign of the degree to which Tripp’s work is tainted by his association with Kinsey’s crack ‘science’) that most other boys. Maybe. Possibly. If we take a few lines written decades later as ‘evidence.’ One might as well attempt to gain clues into his nature by examining his skull.

2) Lincoln had a handful of close relationships with men. To this, I ask, so what? Especially in that day men tended to have closer (or, at least, outwardly closer) friendships than they often do today. There’s no evidence as to whether any of these relationships were of a sexual nature other than Tripp’s own wild conjecture.

3) Lincoln’s marriage was unhappy. Again: so what? The fact that he had an unhappy marriage hardly makes him gay.

The most damning evidence that Tripp manages to produce is a quote from a friend of Lincoln’s discussing his “perfect thighs.” This quote, naturally, has managed to find its way into every story discussing Tripp’s book. But what sort of evidence is it?

First, I can’t find much evidence at all that the quote has been widely circulated until now. A quick search of various search engines can’t find any example of the quote which doesn’t mention Tripp. A further review by myself found only a single book, from 1999, which references it (and which lets it pass without comment). Without further study, we have no real further insight into this supposedly damning evidence.

Yet, possibilities abound. It’s possible that the individual who offered up this phrase, as opposed to Lincoln, was indeed ‘gay’ himself and so, therefore, he took particular notice of these things. It’s equally possible that it was just a strange thought which popped into his head. It’s also possible that it was originally offered up with malicious intent. After all, Honest Abe has never been universally loved.

People have asked me if this matters. Verily, it does. This is a clear effort to assault and forcibly abscond with the memory of an American icon.

Gay activists don’t care about the facts here. That’s the whole point of the ‘queering’ process. They’re picking through Lincoln’s life to pick out those little things that, if they grasp, they can use to assert homosexuality on Lincoln’s part.

They’re counting on two things.

First, the willingness of the public to simply accept something if it’s presented to them as ‘evidence.’ People believe all sorts of false things simply because some book, some television show, or some teacher told them. Spread this in the classroom for a decade or two and it will be pretty much universally accepted.

Second, they’re counting on their ability to shout down anyone who opposes them. Anyone who objects to this will be painted as a “homophobe” who is “unwilling to accept the truth” about Lincoln.

Then, once this process is completed, they will use this as a weapon to break down all opposition to their agenda. You think this doesn’t matter? It does.

How could it not matter if the man universally viewed as the father of the Republican Party was gay?

How could it not matter if the man generally viewed as America’s greatest President and greatest national hero was gay?

That’s why they’ve chosen Lincoln. Because they know that making him gay will prove to be a first-rate weapon against their opponents. “Lincoln would have supported gay marriage,” they’ll say. “Lincoln saved the Union, but gays can’t adopt babies?” they’ll ask incredulously. They seek to imbue themselves with Lincoln’s greatness. They seek to take from Lincoln and claim for themselves.

Now we need to fight this slander. We cannot adopt to this an attitude of, “well, we’ll wait to see what the evidence says.” We have to set out actively to discredit this nonsense.

Now is the time for all good men to rally to the defense of Father Abraham. He saved the Union and now we must save him from the intrigues of a cabal desperate to lay claim to his name to serve their ends. We must stand up to and respond to this horrific lie, wherever and however it is spread.