A letter that President Barack Obama wrote to his ex-girlfriend in 1982 has made some major revelations about the former commander-in-chief's sexuality. “In regard to homosexuality, I must say that I believe this is an attempt to remove oneself from the present. A refusal perhaps to perpetuate the endless farce of earthly life. You see, I make love to men daily, but in the imagination,” Obama wrote. The letter was sent to Alex McNear, his girlfriend while studying at Occidental College. “My mind is androgynous to a great extent. And I hope to make it more so until I can think in terms of people, not women as opposed to men. But, in returning to the body, I see that I have been made a man, and physically in life, I choose to accept that contingency."
Originally, McNear had redacted the more salacious parts of the letter, which is currently in the possession of Emory University. However, Obama biographer David Garrow had a friend transcribe the letter by hand and send him a copy. This had to be done as Emory does not allow photos of the letter. Furthermore, Garrow defended what the former President wrote. “I’m a historian, not a psychologist. But I think it’s ‘public record’ news that a (vast?) majority of human beings have sexual fantasies!” he said via email to The Post.
Obama's "Gay Letter" Resurfaces
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) accompanies former US President Barack Obama to his car after they had lunch at the Chancellery in Berlin, on May 3, 2023. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) (Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)
People are discussing the letter after it was mentioned in an interview by Garrow. He wrote the 1400-page biography, Rising Star: The Making Of Barack Obama, in 2017. “So when Alex showed me the letters from Barack, she redacted one paragraph in one of them and just said, ‘It’s about homosexuality,'” Garrow told Tablet. “So I emailed Harvey [Klehr], said, ‘Go to the Emory archives.’ He’s spent his whole life at Emory, but they won’t let him take pictures. So Harvey has to sit there with a pencil and copy out the graph where Barack writes to Alex about how he repeatedly fantasizes about making love to men.” Garrow further noted that Obama was something of a "sex machine" after moving to New York to attend Columbia.
Garrow also painted comparisons between Obama and his successor, Donald Trump. “I’ve sometimes said to people that I think Barack is actually just as insecure as Trump. But in ways that are not readily perceived by the vast majority of people,” he said. “I think that’s probably my most basic takeaway. [Obama] has no interest in building the Democratic Party as an institution. I think that’s obvious. “And I don’t think he had any truly deep, meaningful policy commitments other than the need to feel and to be perceived as victorious, as triumphant.”
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Benjamin Mock (they/them) is a sports and culture writer working out of Philadelphia. Previously writing for the likes of Fixture, Dexerto, Fragster, and Jaxon, Ben has dedicated themselves to engaging and accessible articles about sports, esports, and internet culture. With a love for the weirder stories, you never quite know what to expect from their work.
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