Barack Obama wrote that he made love to men every day “in the imagination” in a letter to an ex-girlfriend that has surfaced 40 years later.
The comments were revealed in correspondences with Alex McNear, in November 1982, which were previously redacted to remove the more salacious parts.
In one letter, a 21-year-old Mr Obama wrote: “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.”
He went on to suggest he wanted to train his brain to become more balanced in the approach to men and women.
“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.”
It is not clear if Mr Obama was referring to sexual fantasies about men or merely making a point about engaging intellectually.
The excerpts inside a letter – which is currently held by Emory University, a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia – were previously redacted by Ms McNear, who went out with Mr Obama when they were both students at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Some of the contents were revealed earlier this month by David Garrow, who wrote a 1,472-page book on Mr Obama’s rise in 2017: Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama.
Such is the sensitivity of the letter that the university has refused to allow it to be photographed. Instead, Mr Garrow arranged for the contents to be transcribed and sent to him.
Harvey Klehr, who did the transcription, also sent the excerpt to the New York tabloid.
Mr Garrow, a respected author and Pulitzer Prize winner, obtained letters from three of Mr Obama’s former girlfriends.
The former president co-operated in the writing of the book, agreeing to be interviewed for eight hours by Mr Garrow.
When the book first appeared, six years ago, it caused a stir when it went into considerable detail about his love life, with one former girlfriend writing poems hailing his bedroom prowess.
Mr Obama, a father of two, has been married to Michelle since 1992.
The former president has declined to comment on the story.
