Discovery+ Faces Boycott Calls Over Abraham Lincoln Video—'Woke Narrative'

Discovery+ is the latest brand facing backlash as disgruntled social media users are unhappy with a documentary it produced speculating about Abraham Lincoln's sexuality.

A string of major brands—including Bud Light beer, Hershey's chocolate, Fox News and Target—have been the target of boycott campaigns in recent months over their collaboration with LGBTQ+ individuals or their perceived "wokeness."

Conservatives have now taken to Twitter to express their anger at the latest brand, Discovery+, over an episode of the streamer's series, The Book of Queer.

Titled What They Didn't Teach Us About Abraham Lincoln, the episode explores the long-held theory that the 16th American president was either gay or bisexual.

In the seven-minute episode, actors recreate the narration as experts weigh in on the topic. The show uses information from the 2005 book The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln by C.A. Tripp to back up its claims.

The episode, which was first published for Pride Month in 2022, has now resurfaced as a point of ire for conservatives.

"For Pride, Discovery+ is promoting 8 minutes of revisionist history inspired by Queer Theory. Their claim: Abraham Lincoln was a flaming Queer, didn't love his wife & had 4 male lovers. The amount of historical inaccuracies they report to fit the Woke narrative is staggering," wrote one user on Twitter who shared the episode in a tweet that has been viewed around 168,000 times.

"Discovery has become trash," wrote another person.

And a third added: "This discovery + is absolutely unbelievable garbage propaganda 👇this has gotten way way out of hand."

Research into Lincoln's sexuality started in the early 20th century after a Lincoln biography by Carl Sandburg published in 1926 described his relationship with Joshua Fry Speed as "a streak of lavender, and spots soft as May violets."

Many years later, Tripp asserted in his book that Lincoln may have had up to four male lovers, including sharing a bed with David Derickson, the captain of his bodyguards.

Tripp uncovered letters between Lincoln and Speed that reportedly suggested the men shared an intimate relationship.

However, other academics have disputed the theories, citing the use of language at the time or it being commonplace for men to share a bed.

"He was not very fond of girls, as he seemed to me," Lincoln's stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln, told a friend.

Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842 after becoming engaged in 1840. The pair had four sons, Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas. Some academics have said this does not necessarily disprove the theories about his sexuality, as it would have been necessary or expected of him to marry, especially as Lincoln was seeking public office.

Academics have also stated there is no definitive evidence to suggest Lincoln was not straight, but Professor Scott Thompson, from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts, told The Guardian otherwise in 2004.

"Make no mistake - Abe Lincoln was gay," Thompson said.

The British newspaper noted that Harvard professor and Lincoln biographer David Donald has said there is no definitive proof of Lincoln having had affairs with men.