Bisexual and gay animals: Homosexuality in nature
Photo by Romi Yusardi on Unsplash
Are gay animals really a thing? Well, there are many species that exhibit signs of homosexuality.
Every LGBT+ person will cringe upon hearing that their lifestyle is a “choice.” Unfortunately, people around the world still firmly believe that.
For those who believe that homosexuality is a result of being “brainwashed” by society, they should turn their attention to homosexuality in nature.
Indeed, there are bisexual and homosexual members of the animal kingdom beyond mere humans. (And we’re pretty sure that the sheep weren’t ‘turned gay’ from watching ‘gay agenda’ on television.)
Bisexual and gay animals:
- Penguins
- Monkeys
- Black swans
- Lizards
- Dolphins
- Vultures
- Elephants
- Bats
- Lions
- Sheep
- Insects
From birds to mammals and reptiles, homosexuality is present in all kinds of animals who are able to have sexual intercourse. Read on for details about the behaviour they exhibit in nature.
We asked ZSL London Zoo, can animals be gay or homophobic?
Bisexual and gay animals
1) Penguins
Penguins are known to mate for life, and they certainly are romantic specifies as they are often in monogamous pairings. Indeed, a penguin is probably more faithful than your ex.
And among these monogamous couples, there are many same-sex couples among penguins.
These gay animal couples will often even adopt their own baby chick, either by caring for an abandoned penguin or by kidnapping one from another couple.
Homosexuality among penguins has actually been known for some time. It was discovered and hidden from the public in 1911 as it was deemed ‘too shocking’. The information was then released over 100 years later in 2012.
George Murray Levick had the privilege of observing a wild colony of Adélies penguins at Cape Adare during 1911-1912. There, he described the “astonishing depravity” of “hooligan males” as they had homosexual intercourse, which was highly controversial during the time (apparently even among penguins), as well as conducting in necrophilia and forcefully entering female penguins.
2) Primates
From bonobo apes to snow monkeys and orangutans, there are countless reports of homosexual activities within the primate kingdom.
All bonobos are bisexual species, and other kinds of primates show various homosexual behaviour, found in both zoos and the wild.
3) Black swans
An estimated one-quarter of all black swans are in gay couples.
The same-sex pair of black swans often steals nests from the female so they can raise the chick. Equally, they often form threesomes (or thruples) with the female in order to do this.
Not only that, but black swans may also have relationships with other kinds of birds as seen with the infamous New Zealand love story between Thomas the goose and Henry the swan.
Thomas the goose (left) and Henry the swan. (Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust)
The bird couple spent “18 happy gay years together” before Henry left Thomas for a female swan.
Then, after Thomas got over his heartbreak, he joined them to make the threesome a thruple.
4) Lizards
Homosexuality is also present in lizards in a rather unique way.
Certain species of whiptail lizards are exclusively female, and the females are able to reproduce from the ovum without the fertilization of a male.
In order to stimulate ovulation, female lizards engage in homosexual behaviour.
Geckos are also known to shown homosexual behaviour in a non-reproductive manner.
5) Dolphins
You’ve probably heard that dolphins are among the few animals that have sex for pleasure.
It’s therefore not that surprising that the adorable sea creatures get involved in some saucy acts of love.
There have been reports of dolphins having same-sex group sex, with spottings of the Amazon river dolphin forming bands with up to five bisexual dolphins.
Dolphins are known to have group sex. (Unsplash)
Without regard to gender, dolphins are observed having non-reproductive sex, rubbing each other’s genitals and using their blowhole, anus, penis, snouts, vagina and flippers.
6) Vultures
At Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, two male griffon vultures named Dashik and Yehuda were somewhat of a couple.
The bisexual vultures hit headlines in 1998 when they were often seen having “open and energetic sex.”
Not only that, the couple even raised a chick together. Zookeepers had provided the couple with an artificial egg which the birds had looked after through incubation. Once it was time to hatch, zookeepers put in a baby vulture.
Of course, not all love stories last forever and after some rocky years together, Dashik and Yehuda split up.
They each moved on to have female partners, leaving their wonderful, gay animal romance behind.
7) Elephants
Elephants often engage in homosexual intimate relationships (Photo by Archie Fantom on Unsplash)
There are reports of affectionate same-sex interactions beyond mere sex. Elephants virtually hold hands by intertwining their trunks, groom and kiss.
The same-sex companionships may last for several years and are apparent in both sexes.
8) Bats
From oral sex to homosexual masturbation and intercourse, various bat species often engage in homosexual behaviour, even cross-species with different kinds of bats forming homosexual animal relationships.
Such behaviour has been observed in both wildlife and in captivity.
9) Lions
There are many reports of gay lion pairings within the wild. Males are observed engaging in homosexual intimate behaviour.
There are countless reports of homosexual activity between lions (Unsplash)
However, exclusively female relationships are rare with most reports of lesbian activity within captivity rather than the wild.
10) Insects
Gay sex is very common among various kinds of insects. Scientists found that 85 percent of male insects engage in homosexuality in nature.
This means that billions of bugs around the world are having gay sex each year.
Despite the high number, many scientists claim that it’s a case of mistaken identity, with insects doing it by accident, actually intending to impregnate a female mate.
The infamous gay sheep studies
You’ve probably heard of this highly publicised study by Oregon Health and Science University in 2003.
While most members of the animal kingdom swap between male and female partners, domestic rams are unique in that they can be completely gay animals, with 8-to-10 per cent of sheep exclusively homosexual.
A similar percentage of sheep also appear to be asexual, however, many believe that a large part of them could be lesbian sheep who do not have the physical capacity to show their lust given their structure as female sheep simply stand still regardless of whether they want intimacy or not.
However, instead of just letting these sheep be, heterosexual reproductive sex is considered so important in agriculture that experiments were conducted on the gay sheep to attempt to “cure” their homosexuality by altering their hormone levels in the brain.
The reality is that the discoveries from these sheep, along with other members of the animal kingdom, suggests that homosexuality in nature is indeed biological, despite what many homophobic people may argue.
Not to mention, of course, what we see and know from human beings. Surely, what we observe in society and throughout history should be enough? But that combined with the amazing facts about the animal kingdom tips the scales.
There is homosexuality in nature all around the world, whether people like it or not. These are just a few animals that we listed. No doubt, there are hundreds upon hundreds more.
