From: hal@finney.org
Date: Tue Jun 22 1999 - 16:44:07 MDT
There was an interesting article in the L.A. Times this morning about a
dustup in Illinois over whether Abraham Lincoln may have been homosexual.
Apparently in his day it was common for men to sleep together because
boarding rooms and mattresses were expensive, and it is known that he
roomed and slept with a man for about four years before he got married.
It is also known that Lincoln was not completely comfortable around
women and that he and his roommate exchanged letters giving each other
encouragement to get over their trepidations about marriage.
Now a gay activist claims to have found diaries of Lincoln's old roommate
which describe a homosexual relationship. This has caused a great fuss
in Lincoln's home town and among scholars, most of whom are skeptical
about whether this diary really exists.
I would expect that a considerable number of extropians and proto-
extropians would be homosexual. Gay men and lesbian women already have to
have the mental flexibility to escape the mindset of the majority culture,
and this might make them more open to the novelty of extropian ideas.
It would be interesting to know whether any of the various writers
who have influenced our beliefs are thought to have been homosexual.
Homosexuals have played a disproportionate part in creating modern
culture, both popular and "serious", over the course of this century.
I wonder whether they have also influenced extropian ideas, or whether
on the other hand there is something about the particular flavor of our
beliefs which makes them less attractive to homosexuals?
Hal
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:04:15 MST