Shaun Peterson hadn’t thought much about Abraham Lincoln’s love life until around 15 years ago. That changed when he read Gore Vidal’s 2005 Vanity Fair article about “The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln,” C.A. Tripp’s controversial biography that dared to make connections other historians had long set aside concerning his friendships with other men.
The title of Vidal’s piece places the question front and center: “Was Lincoln Bisexual?” Nearly 20 years later, Peterson’s documentary “Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln” revisits that question with ample visual evidence. But the first image drawing our attention is the poster’s illustration, featuring Lincoln’s face dashed with David Bowie’s signature red lightning bolt from his album “Aladdin Sane.”
