Only James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln would know for sure what was in their hearts, And they’re not talking, but it’s most likely that the homosexuality rumors are nothing more than that, and the interest in casting one or the other of them as gay is just a selective reading of historical documents using a modern filter of a sexualized society.
Folks back then didn’t think or talk about sex nearly as openly, a lot of concepts would be foreign to them and probably most importantly due to grooming, bathing, and living arrangement circumstances, sex was generally not thought about in those terms.
I’m aware. I would apply what you’re saying mostly to Lincoln...besides, he married and had kids. If Lincoln had any homosexual inclination, he put it aside.
Buchanan on the other hand....well, I suspect he was homosexual. AND helped bring on the Civil War.