The Civil War Was Unintentionally Very Gay

The Civil War, (or as Monique calls it, the War of Northern Agression) took place at a time when it was very easy to make everything you said sound extremely gay, because being actually gay was such a foreign concept to those people that there was no way to take anything hilariously out of context. The words “homosexual” and “heterosexual” didn’t even enter the American lexicon until thirty years after the war ended. Men declared their (friendship) love for each other all over the place and everyone was always kissing each other tenderly on the forehead. Here is the gayest passage (out of MANY, MANY unintentionally gay passages) from a book of letters from Union soldiers at Gettysburg:

The day before his mother came I was with him a long time. We supposed him sinking. I bade him good bye and he thought me gone. He closed his eyes as if drowsing with his hands folded upon his breast. As I was just behind him he broke out in ejaculations, & I took note of some of them for his friends sake.

Both of those men are long dead.

posted by Caroline