Question

Former President Obama is secretly gay.

Comments

Zenyogi, by defining the term "Gay" in your claim, it gives the readers a better idea of what the article is clearly claiming. I think it is an interesting approach of yours that we truly don't know the Presidents secrets. I guess in terms of this, we are unable to prove if this claim this article made a correct or incorrect claim.

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I couldn't find anything on the author who wrote the article. I looked her name up on linked in and out of the twenty people I looked through she wasn't any of them. The click bait is called former president obama is gay implying that he has just come out and that he is talking about current events. Then when you finally click the article it goes into talking about how Obama talked about his opinions on it when he was in college never actually saying he was gay. A quote from the article from Obama says “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." this statement itself goes against the title of the article.

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Hello! I think your reasoning for not being able to provide a conclusion on whether this is false or not is incorrect. At this current point in time, there is no evidence or reliable sources that prove that President Obama is gay. This lack of evidence means that this claim is false at this current point in time.

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Hello! I really appreciated that you touched on some things that are fats such as there is evidence that Obama has shown public support in the LGBTQ community but there is no eviednece that he has ever shown himself being a part of that community. I also searched to try to find any supporting evidence in alignment with Obama being in the LGBTQ community and I could not either so I would have to agree with your opinion that this is false news.

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I agree about mentioning how discussing the former Presidents sexuality is used more as clickbait rather than to tell a story. With someone at the forefront of politics such as Obama, he is bound to be discussed. The media, pink news in this case, is using the conspiracy and loose to little evidence in an effort to gain traction.

Answer 1

The claim is that former President Barack Obama is "secretly" gay. Gay in this scenario meaning: "of, relating to, or characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to people of one's same sex" (Merriam-Webster). As a man, this would mean that this claim is stating that Barack Obama is "secretly" attracted to other men. This claim can not be true or false. We do not know Obama's "secrets". Secret is a key word in this claim, with the definition being: "kept from knowledge or view" (Merriam-Webster). We will never know if Obama is "secretly" gay. On the other hand, the claim that Barack Obama is "openly" gay is without a doubt false. He is a straight man married to a woman, Michelle Obama (Business Insider). 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gay

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secret

https://www.businessinsider.com/barack-michelle-obama-relationship-timeline

Comments

Defining the terms used in the claim is an interesting and strong way to go about fact-checking.

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Specifying the difference between being secretly and openly gay helps to clarify your argument. It allows you to specify that we wouldn't know if he was secretly gay and that he is not openly gay as he is married to his wife.

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A fact-check cannot be fact-checked by simply saying it is not true or false. What source claimed that he was gay?

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I really enjoyed your approach to fact-checking here. I think you did an excellent job deciphering whether something is an opinion versus whether a claim is true or false. I liked how you listed basic definitions to prove the claim as false.

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Transcribing each part of the statement using the Merriam-Webster definitions is a resourceful way for fact-checking. Your ability to unravel the meaning of "secretly" in its context. While effectively conveying that Obama is currently married and hence not "openly" gay. However, we do not know one's secrets. In short, great answer!

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Your analysis effectively breaks down the claim about Barack Obama's sexuality, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between "secretly" and "openly" gay. It's crucial to acknowledge the privacy of an individual's personal life, and you rightly point out that claims about someone's "secrets" can't be definitively proven or disproven. However, your clear stance on the claim that Obama is "openly" gay, backed by evidence of his marriage to Michelle Obama, adds a strong and factual dimension to the fact check. Overall, well-structured and thoughtful examination of the claim.

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I find it very interesting that you used a dictionary as source, but it created a bold and powerful statement. Clarifying the difference between secret and open definitely proved your point. Great work and response.

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The way you described secretly vs openly gay was very important and clear to the reader. Using the dictionary was a nice touch to prove your point as well. It's very hard to know someone's secrets especially when it comes to sexuality.

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The term secretly gay is new found term and to imply something like that off of a letter that is locked in a university and closed to the public is very to hard to believe.

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I found it very interesting you used Merrriam-Webster's definitions to fact-check this article--it was a smart way to go about examining something that can't fully be proven since we don't know his private life. Did you come across articles talking about the letters he sent in college about the "androgynous mind?" It was published in the New York Post (not considered a trustworthy source), and I think that could be a beneficial thing to add to your post.

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I though the way you fact checked this information was very interesting. Being as specific as possible with definitions for terms made your fact check a lot stronger!

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I liked how you used a dictionary to define the meanings and I liked how you emphasized that it's secret so no one will really know. Good job including a fact at the end

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This is a very solid fact check. I appreciated how you defined the term gay because while we might have assumed what the claimer meant, the word does have multiple definitions.  I also really appreciated your approach to the word secretly and how you went above and beyond to fact-check the claim if it was phrased differently. Great work!

Answer 2

This is almost definitely false. While it is true that there is one letter Barack Obama wrote in 1982 in which he references imagining romantic and sexual scenarios with men, these fantasies are not necessarily indicative of sexuality. The contents of the letter were transcribed from its place in the Emory University Library and sent to a biographer who then published two quotes from it, according to several news sources including the New York Post. In the quotes Obama describes an "anydrogynous mind" seemingly referencing a more progressive view of gender, putting indivuduals first rather than categorizing them. He says that gay men are "removed from the present" and that he has accepted his position as a man. While many conservative outlets have used these quotes to "prove" Obama is gay, this is not likely the case. Fantasies do not automatically determine sexuality, and many young people go through phases of questioning or exploration before they truly understand their gender or sexuality. According to Planned Parenthood's website, orientation is mainly determined by attraction. It is also important to consider Obama's long term happy marriage and children. Based off of his past girlfriends and current wife, he likely is not gay. His words more likely indicate a progressive and curious mindset towards gender and sexuality as a whole.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/barack-obama-told-ex-i-make-love-to-men-daily-but-in-the-imagination/

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/am-i-gay-if-i-have-same-sex-fantasies

Comments

Great use of sources and great explanation and analysis of the source and making the answer credible.

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Good job going into depth about your answer and providing the sources to back up your evidence!

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Yep. Conspiracies like this are often political moves. This rumor was actually accompanied by a rumor that Michelle Obama is transgender (https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/conspiracy-theories-around-michelle-obama-being-a-transgender-7d19caba9785). The statement was made by a comedian, likely not meant to be taken seriously, but then people ran with it.

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You did a great job about going into detail in responding to this claim. Great use of sources as well!

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Your response is very detailed, and I appreciate you stating where you directly cite from the sources. You also used two highly credible sources, NY Post and Planned Parenthood, which strengthens your argument further.

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I appreciate the thoroughness of your response, detailing where this rumor originated from and who it was benefitting. I also appreciate the fact that you debunked this with the view of fantasies don't determine sexuality and using planned parenthoods definition of this as well. Overall, I think this was a very great way to dive deep into this claim.

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Great job diving into and referencing multiple sources such as the New York Post. It seems very unprofessional for the biographer to pull two quotes from his letters at the Emory University Library and not provide context to the situation.

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Excellent use of different sources and very sound reasoning and explanation regarding this claim. It seems very irresponsible and very possibly dangerous for the college-aged musings of an individual with multiple decades of public life to be presented as "evidence" of that individual's purported sexuality.

Answer 3

This is completely false, and can be completely reasoned without any knowledge of the president's letters about sexual scenarios with men. First off, the former president is a married man to Michelle Obama who identifies as a woman. I know there are some rumors that Michelle is actually a trans woman and transitioned due to not ruining her husband's reputation, however this claim too is completely false. As stated by another answer, yes while the president did refer to imagining romantic and sexual scenarios with men, this does not indicate homosexuality in the slightest. Even then, you cannot consider someone a homosexual until they themselves come out openly without pressure, and from the comfort of their willingness to make such a decision. Barack Obama is married to a woman, and has had girlfriends in the past which highly indicates that he is not gay.

Comments

Good work providing your logic as to why the claim is false. The fact-check would be stronger if you include sources though - rather than personal observation.

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Overall, I agree with your fact check. I was wondering what sources you used to come to this conclusion. In particular to rumors about Michelle Obama being Trans, I have never heard a rumor like that and evidence should be provided to back it up. This fact check seems based on personal knowledge, not fact based.

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I agree that there are not many signs of him being gay. However, the article says he is secretly gay. So, this makes me think it may be hard to know if he is secretly gay or not. I think instead of this article being false, it is instead impossible to differentiate if Obama is keeping this a secret or not. Unless he has come out and commented on this, which I have not seen anything saying he has.

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the rumors of Michelle Obama being a trans woman are completely false there is nothing to back up this information or any proof whatsoever, to bring this up in the article is long shot in the dark.

Answer 4

This is not a true statement. While President Obama did write about sexual and romantic ideas with men, that does not imply anything about his "secret" sexual orientation. Everything he wrote about referred much more to an idea of how gender is represented, and not any homosexual intentions. In the article you linked, he does not say he is gay, and furthermore if he were "secretly" gay we would not know about it. He has been happily married to Michelle Obama since 1992, and have had children together. He has also had past girlfriends. It seems that he understands LGBTQ+ issues rather than being LGBTQ+ himself.

https://www.businessinsider.com/barack-michelle-obama-relationship-timeline

https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/barack-obama-told-ex-i-make-love-to-men-daily-but-in-the-imagination/

Answer 5

The claim "Former President Obama is secretly gay" is a completely false statement. There is a letter that Obama wrote in November of 1982, to his girlfriend at the time, where he said, “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." This was a quote that was taken from his letter, which is in Emory University, by an author who was creating a bibliography about Obama. Just because he says he has fantasys of homosexuality it doesn't mean that he is gay. In the article linked it also goes into how Obama has helped the LGBTQ+ community by advancing there rights. Him givng the LGBTQ+ community the rights any human should have doesn't make him "secretly gay".  He has also been married since 1992 to a women and has since had 2 children. Pink News is a site that aims more towards the entertainment part of journalism rather than actually being credible. 

https://www.healthline.com/health/am-i-gay

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/am-i-gay-if-i-have-same-sex-fantasies

Comments

I agree with bringing up how Obamas words from the letter suggest a progressive perspective rather than it being him admitting that he is gay. Additionally Obama advocating for LGBTQ+ rights that also not suggest or determine his sexuality.

Answer 6

       For a claim that former President Barack Obama is "secretly gay", one must be confident in the legitimacy of the article. However, after a quick Google search, you can find that this is quickly false; Obama is currently married to his wife, Michelle Obama. Per his 1982 letters to his ex-girlfriend Alex McNear (later transcribed by Emory University), they include what could be qualified as suggestive language about his feelings toward homosexuality. Pink News isn't the only media outlet writing about this topic. Other outlets such as the New York Post and Daily Mail also talk about his "androgynous mind" and “'mak[ing] love to men daily, but in the imagination'"(New York Post.) The difference between these articles, however, is that the Post notes Obama's comfort in his sexuality, stating that "'I see that I have been made a man, and physically in life, I choose to accept that contingency'" (New York Post.) Therefore, we can assume that Pink News and other outlets are using specific portions of the quote to their advantage, to create a rise out of an audience to create conspiracy. Dating back to a 1982 letter, we can confirm that portions of these initial sentences are true (per Emory University's documents), but it is to include the full context that would make this argument illegitimate. 

  It should also be noted that there is no factual way for us to know whether Obama is secretly gay because there is no confirmation from the former president himself. His marriage to his wife lessens this possibility, but because he has not explicitly stated this, the argument is void. 

https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/barack-obama-told-ex-i-make-love-to-men-daily-but-in-the-imagination/

https://www.npr.org/2017/10/19/558755999/the-love-letters-of-a-young-barack-obama-on-view-at-emory-university-library

https://news.emory.edu/features/2017/10/obama-letters/

Answer 7

I think the source Pink News is not credible. It has no true evidence. CNN may be a more reputable source but still, the evidence supplied that he has fought for gay rights in the past therefore making him gay which I do not agree with at all. The CNN headline is meant to grab the reader's attention. When you read further you can see they write he has been "declared America's "first gay president"". Not that he is actually gay himself but more that he has stood up for gay rights in America.

https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/02/politics/obama-evolution-gay-marriage/index.html

Comments

I agree with your fact chek and I liked how you pointed out that even though CNN is trustworthy they grab your attention before you can notice the statement is in quotes. I think it would be helpful to not only state that Pink News has no true evidence but maybe add links or additional information for why Pink News is not reliable and should not be trustworthy.

Answer 8

I believe that the article from PinkNews is not a credible source to base off of. It states that the former POTUS Barack Obama wrote letters to his ex-girlfriend in college and that he talked about having fantasies of "making love to men". No where in the article does it really show the letter, which means that people who are reading it has to go off of the reliability of the news site, but as previously stated, I don't think PinkNews is the best place for that. Even if people were to go based off of what was stated in the article, it doesn't outright state that he had sexual interactions with men, only in his fantasy (his mind). He stated, "You see, I make love to men on the daily, but in the imagination". He is married to Michelle Obama, a woman, and therefore cannot be gay since on Merriam-Webster, it defines the word gay as "of, relating to, or characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to people of one's same sex". CNN, a credible news site talks about former POTUS Barack Obama and his actions towards LGBTQ+ community where he has signed laws in regards to it but was deemed by the media as "the first gay president". I think phrasing things in the correct manner is important because labeling someone has gay when they clearly have shown that they are attracted to a woman and married a woman goes against the meaning. Just because someone actively thinks about something, doesn't really mean that they have acted out upon it, therefore cannot claim something they didn't do. 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gay 

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/08/13/barack-obama-gay-fantasies-letter/ 

https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/02/politics/obama-evolution-gay-marriage/index.html 

Answer 9

The claim about the former United States President Barrack Obama being gay and writing a letter to his Ex-Girlfriend in college about having homosexual fantasies cannot be proven. The article claims that there is a letter written by young Barrack Obama that is being held and owned by Emory University and it does not allow anyone to move it or take a photograph of it. The article by Pink News steers the viewer into thinking that Obama is gay the that is not the case. They use a letter that was written by Obama when he was in college and manipulate the context and meaning behind it. In one of the article I looked at to try and fact check this by New York Post, the article includes a photograph of a letter from Obama but it does not show that Obama is a homosexual. I think it is funny that at the end of this article by Pink News it states that Obama is married and has two children because it is the very last thing and not emphasized. Another article I looked at basically has the same thing in the article from Pink News. It talks about how there is a book called "A Rising Star" that includes the letter and such but offers no proof that Obama is gay.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/obama-gay-love-letter-men-b2406683.html

https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/barack-obama-told-ex-i-make-love-to-men-daily-but-in-the-imagination/

Answer 10

When clicking on the link to this article the first thing I see is the claim “A young Barack Obama wrote about his ‘androgynous mind’ and gay sex fantasies.” Which is already much different than the claim written here; “Former president Obama is secretly gay.” 

Briefly scanning the article there is nothing specifically written about President Obama saying that these “gay sex fantasies” are related to himself. The article mostly highlights his take on homosexual relationships and his support to the LGBTQ+ community. Which makes the initial claim misleading. The content of the article does not support the claim.

The article was written by an author named Sian Bradley. She has written many other articles on this news site “Pink News” which is a queer news site, where the Barack Obama claim is posted. Looking through the other articles that she has written they all seem to have misleading claims and facts that are not backed up by reliable sources. 

When searching this claim into Google many articles pop up with similar claims. After reading through some of the other articles I came to learn that Obama had written a letter to a formal girlfriend when he was 21 years old. Over 40 years ago. In the letter it writes “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,” This letter ages 40 years. This does not support the initial claim that “President Obama is secretly gay.” 

https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/barack-obama-told-ex-i-make-love-to-men-daily-but-in-the-imagination/