As an 18-year-old undergraduate student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Barack Obama was among a coterie of students who spoke regularly with Lawrence Goldyn. Goldyn, an openly gay political science professor who served as a mentor and friend to many of the school’s minority students, said Obama joined him and other students in discussions about social and political issues at a time when Obama was beginning to develop an interest in politics and civil rights causes. “He was one of those usual, straight young men who was secure enough in his sexuality that he was not fearful of being...
