GayandRight

My name is Fred and I am a gay conservative living in Ottawa. This blog supports limited government, the right of the State of Israel to live in peace and security, and tries to expose the threat to us all from cultural relativism, post-modernism, and radical Islam. I am also the founder of the Free Thinking Film Society in Ottawa (www.freethinkingfilms.com)

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Homosexuality in Animals.....

Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan's blog. A new exhibit in Norway looks at homosexuality in animals.
The taboo was finally broken in 1999 when Bruce Bagemihl, a gay biologist at the University of Wisconsin, published a book entitled Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity.

Bagemihl had scoured every scientific journal and paper he could lay his hands on for references to homosexuality in animals. Tucked away at the end of long and erudite texts, or consigned to footnotes and appendices, he found that homosexuality had been observed in no fewer than 1,500 species, and well documented in 500 of them. The earliest mention of animal homosexuality probably came 2,300 years ago when Aristotle described two female hyenas cavorting with each other.

Bagemihl’s book provided the inspiration for this exhibition, and any notion that homosexuality is a uniquely human trait is quickly disposed of. You are greeted by a pair of swans — the very symbols of romantic love — who turn out to be a female couple. “Up to a fifth of all pairs are all male or all female,” reads the accompanying text.

Then you come to the photograph of the whales “penis fencing” above which hang — for no apparent reason — two actual whale penises, both several feet long and looking like stretched and desiccated turnips. Some of the male whales meet year after year, says Bockman, while their relations with females are fleeting at best.

A model — the one that invariably draws most giggles from the exhibition’s younger visitors — shows a male Amazonian river dolphin penetrating another’s blowhole. “This is the only example of nasal sex we have in nature,” Brockman observes.

Up to a fifth of all king penguin couples kept in captivity are gay, we learn from a display of stuffed penguins wearing pink scarves. Hooded seagulls, sea otters, fish, kangaroos, fruit bats, blue jays, storks, pine martens and owls make guest appearances. So does the lowly hedgehog (ouch).

Male and female bighorn sheep apparently unite during the rutting season, but the rest of the year the males stick together and homosexuality flourishes. “The females are boring. Only the males do it,” says Brockman. Insects, spiders, molluscs, crustaceans — they’re all at it. There is an 1896 sketch of two male scarab beetles enjoying each other. There are even gay gutworms; we know that, Brockman says, because “ they have sex organs and since they are translucent, it’s easy to find out what sex they are”.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I couldn't stop laughing after reading the part about the "blowhole". Please forgive me for having such a dirty mind ;-)

7:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry but I ain't buying it. Here's why: until we can actually talk to the animals we cannot fully understand any rationale for their behaviour. It is merely objectivity. Secondly, animals go into sexual phases where they literally lose control.. thus any hole will do so to speak.

8:00 PM  
Blogger Jim Newman said...

Jim Newman here from the university that is actually conducting the research.

Sullivan has now posted this at his web site:
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2007/01/more_on_gay_she.html

In regards to the original Sunday Times article – Sullivan’s source of information - it was filled with errors and false statements and is the source of countless conspiracy theories based on science fiction, not science. In some cases the paper even reported the exact opposite of what actually occurred. In reality – the research was conducted five years ago. When announced in 2002, several gay and lesbian groups appreciated the findings as the data supports the belief that homosexuality has biological roots and is not merely a matter of choice.

I am also pleased that a writer has thoroughly investigated the article. As he reports, the Sunday Times article basically a piece of science fiction made up by PETA, yes the animal rights people.

His analysis also raises important questions about the timing of the article which again comes almost five years after the research was actually conducted.

Here’s a link to that analysis that anyone who is interested in this topic should read:

A wolf in gay sheep's clothing: Corruption at the London Times
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/4/134158/4348

Also the press is beginning to print stories on how this science research was hijacked by PETA, the left and the right for political gain.

Here’s one story:
If only British press would say, 'My baa-d'
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=116829766709316800

8:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Animals quite often eat their own feces, kill and eat each other too. That doesn't mean it's totally natural and humans should all start doing it. Animals are completely wild beasts without any shame or thoughts of right and wrong. What separates us from animals is the abilty to reason and not just act on pure animal instincts.

8:45 PM  
Blogger Jesse said...

I would be surprised if there weren't gay animals in nature.

Not that it would have any effect on my libertarian POV.

12:32 AM  
Blogger Jesse said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior

Tee hee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_animals

@Anonymous:
Animals have also been reported engaging in heterosexual behaviour. That doesn't mean it's totally natural and humans should all start doing it.

Ooh! Ooh! Can anyone guess where the logical fallacy is?

3:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gay animals, it's nice to know they're happy...

7:52 PM  

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