Lindsey Graham may have lived deep in the closet. He made others suffer for it

Lindsey Graham’s body is still warm, and already the salacious stories are starting.That was never going to surprise anyone who has followed the rumors about his sexuality over the past two decades, through gossip sites, daytime talk shows, cable news, late-night jokes, and gay bars in D.C.I've experienced the latter, and I've heard some wild tales that, to be honest, I find hard to believe.Related: Lonely Lindsey Graham died tethered to the man who humiliated himThere have always been those knowing looks whenever he was asked, again and again, why he'd never married. "To the extent that it matters, I'm not gay," Graham once answered.What's different now is that the man himself can no longer deny it, deflect it, sue over it, or surprise us by confirming it. Death has a way of loosening tongues that fear kept quiet while someone was alive. It also has a way, more deceptively, of bringing people forward because they want their 15 minutes of fame.So let's talk about what's actually happening and what we, as a community, owe to the truth in the middle of it.In the days since Graham's death, at least a couple of claims have already surfaced and resurfaced and been picked up by outlets covering the story, including an account from a trans woman alleging a paid, off-the-record relationship with the senator, and an older claim in 2020, from porn performer Sean Harding describing Graham as a known quantity within D.C.'s male escort circuit.Neither has been independently verified. Neither may ever be. And if history is any guide, they won't be the last. We may see an avalanche of stories, but only those with receipts, both literally and figuratively, should get a second look.This is the part where I have to be careful, because I want to be honest about something: many of us want this to be true.Graham spent a career voting against our marriages, our healthcare, and our right to exist while cultivating relationships with men that reporters and colleagues gossiped about for y