Gay flamingos hatch egg in San Diego
This is the future that liberals want.
It's not the first time that it's happened but it doesn't happen very often - two male flamingos have successful co-parented an orphaned egg, hatching a chick that they will now raise together.
Both birds are in their 40s. In the wild, they're found in sub-Saharan Africa and western India, but this pair live in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Zoo staff were confident that the same-sex couple were up to the task because they'd tested them out first by giving them a dummy egg to look after - demonstrating that they could alternate brooding responsibilities and give the egg the attention that it needed to successfully hatch.
Homophobia has led to under-reporting of gay sex in animal kingdom
While same-sex sexual behaviour has been documented in a range of different species, new research suggests that scientists have been vastly under-reporting just how queer things actually get in the animal kingdom.
A survey of animal scientists found that they widely observe, yet seldom publish about, same-sex sexual behaviour in a wide range of species.
The research team - led by Karyn Anderson of the University of Toronto - interviewed 65 researchers working on 52 different species. The survey results showed that 77% of researchers had observed same-sex sexual behaviour - such as mounting or genital stimulation - but only 48% had collected data on this behaviour and just 19% had published their findings.
“This appears to be due to a perception of researchers that same-sex sexual behaviour is very rare..." explained Anderson. "We found, however, that it was commonly observed by our survey participants.”
So, while we hear occasional reports about gay penguins or humpback whales having gay sex, it's reported as something unusual and unexpected. The analysis of the research team suggests that not only is not unusual behaviour, they've uncovered unpublished observations of gay sex in many species that had previously not been known to have exhibited same-sex sexual stimulation.
“One thing I think we can say for certain is that same-sex sexual behaviour is widespread and natural in the animal kingdom...” said Anderson.
What we now know is that same-sex sexual stimulation has been observed and documented in almost every branch of the evolutionary tree - spiders, squids, monkeys, you name it, they're all gay as fuck. Scientists are now speculating that it's probably unlikely that you could identify a species that doesn't explore same-sex sexual stimulation.
This is important because the perception that same-sex sexual behaviour was rare in animals had fed into a narrative that it was somehow “unnatural” in humans.
While we shouldn't anthropomorphise animals or over-simplify comparisons between human behaviour and animal behaviour, any suggestion that gay sex is somehow "unnatural" has been well and truly blown out of the water.
Which are the gayest animals?
Same-sex sexual behaviour has been observed in more than 1,500 animal species. Here are some of the gayest.
Penguins
It’s quite common for penguins to form same-sex couples, both in the wild and in captivity. Roy and Silo of New York City’s Central Park Zoo are among the most famous gay penguins – the Chinstrap Penguins successfully hatched an egg in 1999, their chick was called Tango.
It’s relatively common for zoos around the world to report same-sex penguin couples getting together during breeding season.
Giraffes
Male giraffes often display at lot of intimate affection towards each other. Researchers have observed same-sex necking, licking, nuzzling and mounting between male giraffes, as well as genital stimulation.
As a species, giraffes don’t form couples of any kind. Adult females live together in herds, and only mate with the transient males who manage to be dominant enough, or surreptitious enough, to visit them at the right time.
Humpback Whales
Same-sex encounters have previously been observed in orca and dolphins, but it's only recently that Humpback Whales have been confirmed to have been getting in on the action.
Documented off the coast of Hawaii and written up in a recent scientific journal, the encounter was observed in January 2022. Two whales - both confirmed to be male - approached the boat of the researchers, circled, and then began to engage in sexual activity while just a few metres below the boat. They were close enough to get pretty clear photos of everything.
Seahorses
Seahorses are fairly incredible creatures.
Pygmy Seahorses are particularly special as it is the male who carries the fertilised eggs and gives birth to their offspring.
Pygmy Seahorses live on gorgonian seafans – camouflaging themselves by matching their colour and texture to the coral on which they live.
Gareth Johnson
