The Advocate Revisits the Idea That the US May Already Have Had a Gay President

After Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the United States may already have had a gay president, The Advocate published a review of older historical theories on the subject. As Them reports , the trigger was her answer to a TMZ question: the congresswoman said she did not know for sure, but thought it was entirely possible.

The piece stresses that this is not an established fact but a set of retrospective interpretations. It notes that in modern US politics, Pete Buttigieg came closest to becoming the first openly gay president when he ran in 2020 and later became transportation secretary.

Among historical figures, The Advocate says the name mentioned most often is James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States. Interest in his private life is linked to the fact that he remained unmarried throughout his life and was frequently seen in Washington with senator and diplomat William Rufus King. The publication also notes that some of Buchanan’s and King’s papers were destroyed after their deaths, leaving the matter open to interpretation rather than proof.

Another example in the review is Abraham Lincoln. The article revisits long-running debates about his closeness to Joshua Speed, with whom Lincoln shared a bed for several years. The Advocate presents such episodes as part of a broader historical discussion about presidential sexuality, not as conclusive evidence.

The publication also recalls discussion of Barack Obama after reports about a 1982 letter in which he wrote about fantasies involving men. At the same time, the article adds an important qualification: Obama is publicly known as a heterosexual man married to Michelle Obama, and neither of them commented on that report.

In the end, The Advocate’s overview reaches a cautious conclusion: the idea of a possible gay president in US history remains part of a cultural and historical debate. For now, it is a matter of theories and indirect signs, not confirmed fact.