Hamilton & Laurens together again

Today I happened to see the new issue of Gay and Lesbian Review, in which historian Michael Aubrecht presents the evidence
that Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury and
notorious playboy, was most likely bisexual. Letters between Hamilton
and the soldier and statesman John Laurens suggest the two men may have
had an intimate relationship. In the excerpt below, Hamilton reassures
Laurens that despite his upcoming wedding to his fiancée, Elizabeth
Schuyler, his love for Laurens remains:

In spite of Schylers black eyes, I have still a part for the public and another for you; so your impatience to have me married is misplaced; a strange cure by the way, as if after matrimony I was to be less devoted than I am now. Let me tell you, that I intend to restore the empire of Hymen and that Cupid is to be his prime Minister. I wish you were at liberty to transgress the bounds of Pennsylvania. I would invite you after the fall to Albany to be witness to the final consummation. My Mistress is a good girl, and already loves you because I have told her you are a clever fellow and my friend; but mind, she loves you a l’americaine not a la françoise [sic].
Adieu, be happy, and let friendship between us be more
than a name.
A Hamilton
The General & all the lads send you their love.

Historian Bob Arnebeck interprets the letter from Hamilton: “In
the extant letters, this is the last of Hamilton’s homoerotic bravado
with Laurens. But it is quite enough to allow us to label Hamilton as a
man with a wide appetite for pleasures that comfortably included
homosexuality. Marriage would be no cure for his love for Laurens.” A
statue of the two men stand in Lafayette Park in Philadelphia, a
testament to their friendship.

Return to the main article.

Read about our first gay president and first gay vice president, James Buchanan and Rufus King.

Read about our second gay/queer president, Abraham Lincoln.