Can animals be “gay?” It probably would not make for a Disney movie, but indeed numerous species demonstrate homoerotic behavior. Insects, other invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, land and marine mammals, and primate species clearly engage in homoerotic behavior. A key here is the term “homoerotic behavior,” as opposed to a way of life or identity: These species also engage in heteroerotic behavior with almost no examples of strictly “gay” behavior (really only about 8% of domesticated male sheep). Even animals we consider very masculine, such as male lions, engage in homoerotic behavior; there goes our comfortable stereotypes. Indeed, the more that researchers look with an open mind, the more species they discover that engage in homoerotic behavior! What this means is that templates for homoerotic behavior were well established in the animal kingdom long before humans came along and invented “homosexuality.” Ah, maybe the issue is not homosexuality, but instead homoerotic behavior. See the Animal Homosexuality chapter of Outing The TRUTH About Sexual Orientation to learn more about homoerotic behavior in animals.
Mar 222017