“Homosexual” simply means sexual behavior between members of the same sex. Depending on species, this can mean genital penetration, courtship behavior, or any range of behaviors that a male and female might engage in, in regards to sex or upbringing of progeny. Homosexual sexual behavior is often discarded as being unnatural simply because it does not result in reproduction. This is the presumption that sex is wholly reproductive in nature. Using the same argument, it would be asinine to suggest that an infertile couple having sex is unnatural since they lack the capability to reproduce from it. Realistically, however, sex is far more often a means of recreation than a means of reproduction. Oral sex still has “sex” in its name regardless of how conducive it is to reproduction. Pair-bonding is not uncommon among same-sex partners in many species, past simply homosexual sex.
Long-term and short-term same-sex pairs are prevalent among many different animal communities. Supposedly these pairs do not reproduce, but this is not true. Roughly one-fourth of all black swans are raised by same-sex parents. (Goudarzi, 2006) Male couples will fertilize a female and take care of her until she lays the egg, then chase the female off and raise the baby bird by themselves. Similarly, female couples will allow males to fertilize them and then raise an egg together. An easier option for both male-male and female-female pairings is to chase other couples away from their nests and begin living there themselves. Couples simply stealing eggs from other nests and bringing them back to their own nest to raise has been observed as well.
Bonobo apes are a particularly interesting species in terms of sexual behavior. One hundred percent of studied bonobo apes are fully bisexual – they engage in sexual behavior with members of both sexes, for many different reasons or no reason at all. (de Waal, 1995) Bonobo apes apparently engage in less pair-bonding than other species and have sex indiscriminately with all members of their respective group. Interestingly, the majority of sexual behavior among bonobo apes is female-female sex, even more prevalent than heterosexual reproductive sex. Bonobo apes exhibit essentially the full gamut of sexual behavior – oral, anal, and vaginal stimulation by members of each sex. This is often explained away by those who claim such activity is unnatural by stating that same-sex behavior only occurs when the individuals involved were unable to find members of the opposite sex to mate with. However, such behavior has been observed when members of the opposite sex were readily available, and they simply chose the same sex instead. It seems that bonobo apes have sex for many reasons other than simply reproduction, whether it be recreation or a form of trust building.
Community dynamics play a strong role in determining the type of sexual relations that individuals within the community engage in. Joan Roughgarden in her book, Evolution’s Rainbow, argues against the idea that homosexuality goes against the grain of evolutionary sexual selection, saying instead that it is actually beneficial to many animal communities. She notes, "The more complex and sophisticated a social system is, the more likely it is to have homosexuality intermixed with heterosexuality." Many different species of apes have very complex social structures, and like the bonobo apes, rely on sexual activity between community members to cement trust between the individuals, or make up for arguments (it appears that animals have make-up sex just as much as humans), or simply to have fun. What’s important to note, however, is that these activities occur in different frequencies in different species. As noted for the bonobo ape species, it’s virtually one hundred percent bisexual. For other species, such as the Japanese macaque, about half of the population engages in sexual activity with both sexes. The different dynamics of each animal community seems to influence what types of behavior are engaged in and at what frequency. (Bidstrup, 2000)
Same-sex sexual relations have been observed among animals for thousands of years. Aristotle noted homosexual behavior among same-sex hyenas over 2300 years ago (though he mistook them for males, they were actually females, as the hyena labia looks like a penis). (Universitetet i Oslo, 2006) Only recently has sexuality studies in general, and sexuality studies in the animal kingdom become prevalent. Previously, such research was discarded as being an aberration from science with some scientists even calling homosexual behavior in nature unnatural, because supposedly it works against the species’ evolutionary benefit. However, most instances of homosexual behavior have little to no evolutionary effect, as they will often mate and reproduce before resuming homosexual relations. Interestingly, some instances of male homosexuality among animals have been shown to actually benefit the species rather than work against their evolution. Male flamingo couples will often mate with a female and then raise the chicks between the two males. Two male flamingoes can cover much more territory than a regular male-female coupling, so it’s possible for a male-male couple to raise significantly more chicks than a so-called “natural” pairing would provide. (Owen, 2004)
The New York Times published an article about two penguins at the Central Park Zoo who have been a male homosexual couple for over six years. A common question against animal homosexuality is, “Why don’t we observe it in zoos?” Well, to put it simply, it is observed in zoos. Their zookeeper noted that at one point, the pair seemed so keen on raising a chick, that they attempted to incubate a rock. Upon seeing this, the keeper gave the couple a fertilized egg and allowed them to care for it. (Smith, 2004) Penguins have a very intricate form of egg incubation involving transferring of the egg from one partner to another to keep the egg warm. (Oehler, 2005) These penguins followed each of these intricate steps the same as a heterosexual couple would. Similarly, the zookeeper notes that there are two young male penguins who are showing courting behavior. Once again, penguins have a very intricate series of steps in the courtship ritual. This includes the penguins bowing to each other, ringing their necks together, and rubbing their bills. There seems to be no apparent differences between male-male coupling of penguins and male-female coupling (besides, of course, the differences in sex). Zookeepers in Germany attempted the animal equivalent of conversion therapy on their three male-male penguin couples by bringing in an excess of females for them to breed with (playing off the idea that animals make homosexual couplings for lack of females to mate with). Not surprisingly, their attempts were utter failures. (2005 Ananova)
Indeed, it seems that homosexual activity among penguins is not confined to male-male relationships. The same Central Park Zoo had a female-female couple that exhibited much of the same behavior as the now-famous male-male couple. They found a rock and treated it as an egg, incubating it and trading it off between them. Interestingly, the egg fostered by the male-male couple hatched a few years ago is now in a female-female relationship that has lasted over the course of multiple mating seasons. (Miller, 2005)
Opponents to the idea of homosexuality being natural attempt to explain its prevalence by many different means. One such claim is that the individual animals involved in homosexual behavior had a case of “mistaken identity” – essentially that they incorrectly identified the partner they are attempting to mate with as a member of the opposite sex. This is easily discounted in the cases of species with very obvious differences, such as peacock males with very vibrant plumes as opposed to peacock females that are typically a muted brown or gray. This is also discounted in evidence of animals involved in masturbation or oral sex, as the acts of penetration or mounting never occur, so there can be no possibility of mistaking their partner as the wrong sex. They are not attempting to mate or breed, they are simply engaging in sexual activity, which seems to be common for many reasons other than breeding. In a study of Tree Swallows, the researchers observed much male-to-male contact, and specifically examined the possibility of this “mistaken identity” theory. They noted, “While mistaken identity may explain why male 42 was pursued, it does not explain why he did not resist the copulation attempts and cloacal contact.” (The Wilson Bulletin) While mistaken identity might explain some instances of homosexual behavior, it certainly cannot be used to explain all, or even most, observed behavior.
Similar to this idea is that body parts used for reasons other than their reproductive functions means it is an unnatural use. The aforementioned study by Dr. Holsinger, titled “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality” makes precisely this claim. He notes that men and women have “complementary” body parts and that anal sex between men is unnatural because the rectum has no “natural lubrication”. (Holsinger, 2001) This, again, is relying on an extremely narrow definition of what “natural” means. Certainly, the rectum’s main use is not to be the receptive part in sex, but that does not mean it is unnatural to use it for such purposes. In fact, the anus has a high concentration of nerve endings, and both men and women alike find pleasure in anal stimulation. A study done at the University of Padua in Italy showed that the brain activated different regions during anal stimulation intended for pleasure and painful electric stimulation. During pleasurable stimulation, the brain responded accordingly – the primary sensory cortex (or S2 region of the brain) showed increased activity below a certain threshold and then above a certain threshold that activity moved to a separate area of the brain. This study showed that the brain naturally responds pleasurably to anal stimulation. (Lotze, et al. 2001) While, obviously, the anus is not designed for procreation, it does appear to be designed to respond favorably to stimulation. However, it certainly is part of human nature to seek out that which is pleasurable, and if anal stimulation is naturally pleasurable, then seeking out anal stimulation must also be natural.
Another explanation of homosexuality occurring in nature is that it becomes increasingly apparent in populations that are simply becoming too large. The problem with this hypothesis is that it gives no mechanism for how homosexuality becomes prevalent in a given population. Something simply being necessary in nature does not make it automatically take form. Further, this goes directly against other explanations of why homosexuality becomes prevalent such as the hypothesis that there is a lack of mates to be found. Some people have suggested that there are too few mates to be found; this suggestion says that there are too many, and therefore the population finds a way to become self-limiting. This hypothesis is supported by virtually no evidence – homosexuality has been observed in populations at the same frequency during population shortages, stasis, and surpluses. (Hatchwell 1988) Further, this same frequency has been observed both in the wild and in zoos, suggesting that it probably is not an environmental impulse that causes these animals to engage in homosexual behavior. (Bidstrup 2000)
It seems, after all, that this “abomination” against nature actually enjoys much prevalence among nature. From our closest biological cousins to various birds, homosexuality and bisexuality not only are apparent, it is in some cases a common and encouraged form of behavior. As Bruce Bagemihl notes in his book, Biological Exuberance, “The world is, indeed, teeming with homosexual, bisexual and transgendered creatures of every stripe and feather . . . From the Southeastern Blueberry Bee of the United States to more than 130 different bird species worldwide, the 'birds and the bees,' literally, are queer.” The question of “is homosexuality natural?” can finally be laid to rest with this new research that is emerging on animal homosexuality. It is so common, so evident in so many different populations and under so many different circumstances, nobody familiar with the research can continue to claim that it is unnatural. Indeed, by the very definition of what is natural, homosexuality and bisexuality certainly are.
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