Fact Check: Examining claim Obama said boys need gay mentors
Former U.S. President Barack Obama said boys need gay mentors.
Rating:
What's True:
In a conversation about the value of having different kinds of male mentors in boys' lives, Obama described an openly gay college professor who influenced him in a positive way. He said having someone who is gay or nonbinary (or any other identity) in a friend group helps create community and makes men feel less alone.
What's False:
Obama did not literally say that boys specifically need gay mentors.
In posts that spread online in July 2025, conservatives claimed former U.S. President Barack Obama said young boys should specifically have gay mentors in their lives.
(X user @Pro__Trading)
A number of online posts claimed Obama's advice had sinister motivations and that he was encouraging "ped*ph*les and groomers." One post stated:
Obama says boys need a gay role model, mentor or influence in their lives.
Disrespectfully I'm gonna disagree unequivocally and tell you to get bent.
I'll teach my kids to be understanding and respectful but that will come from me… Cause see we know what a huge percentage of gay men who try to be "role models" to young boys are actually after.
Wait… come to think of it…. 👀
Did Obama just reveal his origin story? 😵💫🤯
Don't worry I'm just a conspiracy theorist. Nothing to see here.
Such posts leaned into homophobic conspiracy theories about grooming often propagated by the right.
Obama did speak of the benefits of boys having gay mentors and friends in a July 2025 podcast episode. However, he did so in the context of recommending that boys have a range of male role models in their lives, giving the personal example of a gay professor who influenced him. He did not literally say that all boys should specifically have gay mentors. As such, we rate the claim that he made this statement mostly true.
Obama made the comment during a July 16, 2025, episode of the podcast "IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson." He was answering listener questions alongside his wife, Michelle Obama, and his brother-in-law Craig Robinson.
One listener asked, "How can we raise emotionally intelligent, competent men?" In response, Obama said:
[Boys need] not just exposure to one guy, one dad, no matter how good the dad.He can't be everything. And that boy may need somebody to give the boy some perspective on the dad, right? One of the most valuable things I learned as a guy was, I had a gay professor in college at a time when openly gay folks still weren't out. Who became one of my favorite professors and was a great guy, and would call me out when I started saying stuff that was ignorant.
You need that to show empathy and kindness. And by the way, you need that person in your friend group so that if you then have a boy who's gay, or nonbinary or what have you, they have somebody that they can go, "OK, I'm not alone in this." So that, I think, is creating community. I know it's corny, but that's what they need.
Obama made the above comment starting around the 59:05 mark in the video version of the podcast episode:
In the context of the wider conversation, Obama was calling for a range of male role models, and he said that having a gay friend or nonbinary person in a friend group (as well as other identities, evidenced by his use of the phrase "or what have you") can help "create community" and increase "empathy and kindness." He also mentioned his own gay mentor as a positive influence in his life. However, Obama did not specifically say he believed boys should have gay mentors.
We have fact-checked a range of stories about Obama, including the false claim that he authorized an assassination attempt on U.S. President Donald Trump just before Trump first assumed office in 2016.
"BARACK OBAMA on What It Takes to Raise Boys and How Michelle Made Parenting Better | IMO ." YouTube, Michelle Obama, 16 July 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=8cksjHo_PAO0AV7A&t=3550&v=bmzXnbAMmOM&feature=youtu.be. Accessed 24 July 2025.
PerryCook, Taija. "Don't Fall for Claim Obama Authorized Trump Assassination Attempt." Snopes, 22 July 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/obama-authorized-assassination-trump-rumor/. Accessed 24 July 2025.
Romano, Aja. "The Right's Moral Panic over 'Grooming' Invokes Age-Old Homophobia." Vox, 21 Apr. 2022, https://www.vox.com/culture/23025505/leftist-groomers-homophobia-satanic-panic-explained. Accessed 24 July 2025.
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