Gay animals | Psychology Today

Contents:

• CAN ANIMALS BE GAY?
• HOW DO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE GAY/HOMOSEXUAL ANIMALS IMPACT THE IA THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS A S?
• 11 ANIMAL SPECI THAT PROVE BEG GAY IS NATURAL
• CAN ANIMALS BE GAY?
• GAY ANIMALS: ALTERNATE LIFTYL THE WILD
• GAY ANIMALS

CAN ANIMALS BE GAY?

Over the past 20 years, a burst of rearch — driven part by a new generatn of scientists more acceptg of queerns — has shown signifint amounts of prevly unreported homosexual behavr throughout the animal kgdom, om flour beetl to gorillas. Gee Murray Levick, the explorer who wrote about homosexual behavr Adélie pengus 1911, shield his observatns of pengu “pravy” om sual observers by rerdg them his field not g the Greek alphabet — and they were still cut om the official expedn reports. A proment mammalogist, Valeri Geist, uldn’t help but notice equent homosexual sex at his bighorn sheep field se the 1960s, but Geist avoid publishg those fdgs bee ma him “crge … to nceive of those magnificent beasts as ‘queers.

The fact that a bird populatn wh many bond femal sharg a few mal between them would have higher reproductive output led historian and ornhologist Jared Diamond to dryly wonr whether “further study of homosexually paired female birds may help clarify what, if anythg, mal are good for — an evolutnary sense, of urse. ” In social animals, the logic go, absolute homosexualy would produce no offsprg, but absolute heterosexualy uld also be limg, as might make for an anism that is “poor at formg social allianc.

Therefore, aversn to homosexual sex would have had to specifilly arise over the history of life, which this team of rearchers fds unlikely, sce the opportuny st of same-sex sex is relatively low. Vasey and his team methodilly tted the var theori that have been proposed for the persistence of homosexual sex the monkeys: that the femal were exprsg domance; that they were barterg for parental re; that they were rencilg after a fight; or (my personal favore) that they were stagg sexual enunters to exce nearby mal, what I’d ll the “you wish, guys” theory of monkey lbianism.

HOW DO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE GAY/HOMOSEXUAL ANIMALS IMPACT THE IA THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS A S?

Sodomy laws stayed on the books until 2003, when the Supreme Court led them unnstutnal — aid by an amic brief cg the rearch that had e out the meantime documentg homosexual activy among might have known about the sheer diversy of animal sexualy a long time ago if we, as a culture, had managed to lower our blrs. Zoologists are disverg that homosexual and bisexual activy is not unknown wh the animal and Silo, two male chstrap pengus at New York's Central Park Zoo have been separable for six years now.

Filmmakers recently went search of homosexual wild animals as part of a Natnal Geographic Ultimate Explorer documentary about the female's role the matg game. "Well, perhaps, a roundabout way, they are seekg mal, suggts primatologist Amy argu that female maqu may enhance their social posn through homosexual timacy which turn fluenc breedg succs.

11 ANIMAL SPECI THAT PROVE BEG GAY IS NATURAL

Already, s of animal homosexualy have been ced succsful urt s brought agast stat like Texas, where gay sex was, until recently, scientists say we should be wary of referrg to animals when nsirg what's acceptable human society. For stance, fantici, as practiced by lns and many other animals, isn't somethg people, gay or straight, generally approve of HomosexualySo how far n we go g animals to help unrstand human homosexualy?

"The bottom le is that anythg that happens other primat, and particularly other ap, is likely to have strong evolutnary ntuy wh what happens humans, " he says the bonobo's e of homosexual activy for social bondg is a possible example, addg, "One of the ma arguments for human homosexual behavr is that helps bond male groups together, particularly where a group of dividuals are pennt on each other, as they might be huntg or warfare.

CAN ANIMALS BE GAY?

However, as Dunbar adms, there's a long way to go before the of homosexualy humans are fully said, "Nobody's really vtigated this issue thoroughly, bee 's so polilly sensive.

Neverthels, the topic of same-sex behavur animals, and how such behavurs may have e to evolve is a fascatg the terms ‘gay’ and ‘heterosexual’ shouldn't really be applied to animalsDpe s e our tle, terms like 'gay' or 'heterosexual’ may not be the bt to e when scribg sexual behavurs animals. Bee of this, animal ‘homosexualy’ has often been ignored, or else scientists have enavoured to fd var adaptive benefs to expla s of the adaptive explanatns clu var hypothised social benefs.

Anyone engaged the most elementary animal observatn is forced to nclu that animal “homosexualy, ” “filici” and “nnibalism” are exceptns to normal animal behavr.

GAY ANIMALS: ALTERNATE LIFTYL THE WILD

Although homosexual behavr is very mon the animal world, seems to be very unmon that dividual animals have a long-lastg predisposn to engage such behavr to the excln of heterosexual activi.

GAY ANIMALS

Even blogist Bce Bagemihl, whose book Blogil Exuberance: Animal Homosexualy and Natural Diversy was ced by the Amerin Psychologil Associatn and the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn their amici curiae brief Lawrence v. He stat: It seems possible that the study of sexual behavr animals, pecially non-human primat, will ntribute to the liberalizatn of relig attus toward homosexual activy and other forms of nonprocreative sex. Specifilly, the studi challenge one particular sense of the dogma that homosexual behavr is “agast nature”: the notn that is unique to those creatur who, by tastg the u of the tree of knowledge, have alone bee morally culpable.