As the book is being banned in parts of India, the author addresses the speculation:
"The book does not say that Gandhi was bisexual or homosexual," [Joseph] Lelyveld wrote in an email. "It says that he was celibate and deeply attached to Kallenbach. This is not news." ... Sudhir Kakar, a psychoanalyst who has written about Gandhi's sexuality and reviewed some of his correspondence with Kallenbach, said he does not believe the two men were lovers. "It is quite a wrong interpretation," he said.
When will these people realize that a man whose greatest love was for another man - whether he was celibate or not - was fricking gay. Being gay is not about having sex, for the umpteenth time. It's about being emotionally and sexually attracted to someone of the same gender. If the facts Lelyveld gathers are correct, then Gandhi was gay, even though those who still have no clue about homosexuality deny it. The same goes for Lincoln. You can put any cultural or historical gloss on it - and, yes, gayness required elaborate forms of euphemism and artifice in days gone by. But a passionate and long-lived crush on another man, romantically and sexually, even if nothing happens, is called homosexuality. Deal with it.