An "unprecedented study" of bottlenose dolphins conducted by the University of Massachusetts has discovered that dolphins -- or at least this particular group of dolphins -- swings both ways. They are bisexual, sometimes gay, and fiercely polyamorist.
From Discovery News:
Male bottlenose dolphins also were found to engage in extensive bisexuality, combined with periods of exclusive homosexuality. Male pairs, or even trios, cooperate to sequester and herd individual females during the mating season. Most males are also members of second order alliances consisting of 4 to 14 males. Such relationships appear to be long lasting, with one known 7-member group still intact after 17 years.
HOMOPHOBIA IS AN EXCLUSIVE HUMAN ABERRATION
Talk about what is normal and what is not…in the animal kingdom there is ample documented evidence of homosexual sexual behavior.
I know the argument as I have heard it so many times before, that homosexuality is “unnatural” against the laws of nature, counterproductive to the preservation of the species and the like. But nothing is black or white as we can see in nature there are many tonalities of gray.
When I visited the city of Moret Sur Loin just a short drive from Paris, the Seine is contained by a dam and there is a beautiful lake. The city dates back hundreds of years and it is where the impressionist painter Corot did a lot of his work.
It is a lovely place but it has one distinction: it has in the lake a pair of male swans that have paired off for life. I was not just surprised but admired the gentleness and the bond that was apparent between these two noble birds.
After that, I had to look into other incidence of animal same sex examples and was even more surprised to find that this is a much more common occurrence than most people are aware or even I was aware.
 |
| The lovely village of Moret Sur Loin immortalized by the artist Corot and the waters where the gay swans live. |
Can Animals Be Homophobic?
Anti-gay discrimination in the animal kingdom.
In an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan on Sunday, former Growing Painsstar Kirk Cameron called homosexuality “unnatural,” and a behavior that is “ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.” We’ve heard that many species of nonhuman animals engage in gay sex, which calls into question the first part of Cameron’s statement. But what about the practice of shunning gays—can animals be homophobic too?
Not as far as we know. Homosexual behavior has been documented in hundreds of animal species, but the same does not hold for gay-bashing. For starters, few animals are exclusively gay. Two female Japanese macaques might have playful sex with each other on Tuesday, then mate with males on Wednesday. Pairs of male elephants sometimes form years-long companionships that include sexual activity, while their heterosexual couplings tend to be one-night stands. For these and many other species, sexual preferences seem to be fluid rather than binary: Gay sex doesn’t make them gay, and straight sex doesn’t make them straight. In these cases, the concept of homophobia simply doesn’t apply.
Researchers believe that gay sex is even rewarded in certain species. For bonobos, sexual activity serves as an instrument of social harmony: It reinforces bonds and keeps the peace. For instance, when a female bonobo migrates into a new group, she often ingratiates herself to the clan’s other ladies by having a lot of sex with them.
Far from being shunned, this homosexual behavior is welcomed. And former Stanford researcher Joan Roughgarden has argued that among male bighorn sheep bisexuality may be the norm; those that don’t participate end up as outcasts.
PHOTO SOURCE: http://wanamassa.us/birds2006/images/PICT3663wSwans.jpg
Explainer thanks Frans de Waal of Emory University and Christopher Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality.
Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/#ixzz1qq49FN8Z
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar