May 31, 2005

GAY LINCOLN

No, this is not a cheap insult to the Americans who come this way...

When Abraham was in his twenties, a broke lawyer born in a log cabin, he met Speed, an 18-year old shopkeeper. Speed offered to share a room – and a bed – with Abe. This wasn’t uncommon in the 1830s, when only the rich could afford a bed of their own. But sharing would be a transitory, uncomfortable alliance for a few months – except with Abe and Joshua. They shared for four years, a fact that even a 1950s biographer noted “bordered on impropriety.”
Johann Hari

No comments: