Ahhh, I put "it doesn't really matter" in a different category from "don't speculate" - I'm not really saying there's anything wrong with speculating, more that I think focusing too much on the nature of the love might be undervaluing the relationship itself. There's nothing wrong with trying to figure out whether or not Lincoln was actually buggering the friend he shared a bed with, but it isn't that important to understanding Lincoln the man. Except insofar as it could be an argument against homophobia, and yes, when it comes to using the past to understand the present, I agree that it could be important to know, in certain situations. But even if Lincoln was "gay" by modern definitions, it wouldn't have had the same impact on his life then; to try to define him as "gay" or "straight" paints a misleading picture of the man and his motivations.

...But then, I personally feel that not only is trying to categorize Lincoln gay or straight a mistake - but I kind of am opposed to categorizing modern people as gay or straight, either, because human psychology and history both indicate that such strict categories are misleading and inaccurate reflections of the human condition. I understand the politically necessities of describing "gay" as a minority, but in a lot of respects it's damaging to all of society ("gay" and "straight" alike) to be locking people in those boxes.