Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story leans heavily into the theory that Lizzie Borden was gay, but the truth is far less clear than you might think. And perhaps no piece of evidence demonstrates this more than the so-called “gay note” written by Lizzie herself. Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Netflix series returned last week to investigate one of the most infamous unsolved true crime cases, which unfolded in 1892 when Lizzie’s father, Andrew, and stepmother, Abby, were brutally murdered with a hatchet. Although Lizzie was initially put on trial, she was ultimately acquitted and no one was ever charged for the killings. But as we’ve seen with previous entries of Monster, the show plays hard and loose with the facts, and that includes Lizzie’s relationship with the Bordens’ live-in maid Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan. Not only are they lovers in this version of events but also co-conspirators, despite there being no historical basis for this. The truth is Lizzie never got married, and she had a close friendship with actress Nance O’Neil after they met in 1904 – years after the murders took place. One piece of evidence that had so many people convinced arrived in 1984, when author Frank Spiering published a supposedly revealing letter in his book Lizzie. The truth about Lizzie Borden’s ‘gay note’ Credit: Public Domain The “gay note” is a real letter written by Lizzie Borden in August 1897, five years after the murders, which has been cited as evidence that she may have been attracted to women. In it, Lizzie tells an unnamed friend that she had recently dreamed about them, before saying that she did not “dare to put my dreams on paper”. On its own, it certainly sounds suggestive – particularly when the recipient was later described to Spiering as a “young woman”. But there’s a pretty major problem with this interpretation. The woman Lizzie was actually writing to was her dressmaker and friend, Mrs Cummings, and there’s nothing explicitly romantic or sexual in the letter. Here it is in full, as shared by historian Sherry Chapman in her piece for Volume 1 Issue 6 of the publication The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies: “My dear Friend, Where are you, how are you and what are you doing? I dreamed of you the other night but I do not dare to put my dreams on paper. Have you been away and has your little niece been to visit you? “We have been home all summer. I spend much time on the piazza in my steamer chair reading and building castles in the air. I hope you have been away and are well and strong now. Do you expect to do much this fall and are you going to N.Y.? “Every time we pass your corner the pony wants to turn down. The weather has been so warm and full of thunder storms I am quite ready for fall. I should be very glad to hear from you.” Shen then signed off with “Sincerely, L. A. Borden, August 22, 1897.” people are saying the new season of monster is inaccurate because lizzie borden wasn’t proven to be a lesbian but this was found in a letter to a female friend that never got sent. pic.twitter.com/eymrIf6Duu — sophia 🪐 (@spaceisace) August 23, 2026 Here’s the thing: the way this note was described in Spiering’s non-fiction book Lizzie – separate to Evan Hunter’s fictional book Lizzie, which was also released in 1984 – makes it sound as if this is hard evidence of Lizzie’s sexuality. Even Chapman, an established writer and historian, truly believed this to be the case when first reading the book, saying she admired the author’s talent as a researcher. Chapman shared excerpts from the book that prefaced the letter. “Thirty-five years devoid of physical affection were taking their toll,” Spiering wrote. “There was a part of Lizzie that ached to be warmed and cherished. A part so secret – which yearned for someone like herself whom she could embrace and shower with affection. As the days and nights of loneliness crowded in on her there was someone she desired.” He made comments about Lizzie’s “deepest, most passionate feelings” and said “she could be explicit about her sexual longings.” When Chapman read this, it had her convinced. “My goodness! Here was real proof that Lizzie was gay,” she wrote. “Hats should have went off to Mr. Spiering for finding this gem of a letter, and for setting us all straight once and for all that Lizzie was most certainly not heterosexual.” However, if it weren’t for Spiering’s additional description, the only slightly suggestive line in the letter is, “I dreamed of you the other night but I do not dare to put my dreams on paper.” And even then, this could mean any manner of things and certainly doesn’t prove anything. The letter was actually written to Lizzie’s friend and dressmaker Credit: Public Domain But it was Chapman’s discovery years later that really threw everything into doubt. In the early 2000s, while in Fall River, she was going through some of Lizzie’s handwritten letters with author and curator of the Fall River Historical Society, Michael Martins. “I sat in the Historical Society archives and he explained each note as we read them together. It was thrilling to see things written by Lizzie, and I was interested in it all,” Chapman wrote. He then turned to a page that she instantly recognised: the “gay note”, as she described it. And Michael confirmed it was written by Lizzie to her dressmaker, Mrs Cummings. This was enough for Chapman to realise there was nothing sexual about the letter, “once you knew to whom she was writing and that you realised its context.” She provided another example of a letter written to Cummings, which proves she was good friends with her. It addresses a false rumour that Lizzie was getting married and Cummings was making the dress. “My dear Friend, I am more sorry than I can tell you that you have had any trouble over the false and silly story that has been about the last week or so. How or when it started I have not the least idea,” Lizzie wrote. “But never for a moment did I think you or your girls started it. Of course I am feeling very badly about it but I must just bear as I have in the past. I do hope you will not be annoyed again. Take care of yourself, so you can get well.” Credit: Netflix Chapman highlighted their close friendship, and said, “Lizzie Borden was written up in the papers almost every time she stuck her head out the door of Maplecroft. “She could have dreamed Mrs. Cummings was making Lizzie a wedding dress. Or Mrs. Cummings was flying with an umbrella a la Mary Poppins. “Anything Lizzie wrote on paper could possibly get into the wrong hands and twisted about in any way desired. I think that this incident with Mr. Spiering is a perfect example of that. “When Spiering writes that Mrs. Brigham told him the letter was written to a ‘young woman’ – well, at best I think I can say he had his fingers crossed.” It’s a prime example of how many facts get lost to history or twisted over time. So when it comes to the Lizzie Borden case, it’s best to take everything with a hefty grain of salt. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Netflix/Public Domain Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
