Same-sex Penguin Couple Showcases Animal Diversity

Maureen Cleary, writer for Chicago Tribune, likens their relationship to the love lives of a soap opera.

Chicago Trubune Photo

Fun to revisit this concept as PRIDE comes to an end in June. However, shouldn’t PRIDE be felt, discussed, and carried on all year long? Wait, can I coin that idea, or has it already been taken by Christmas?

Despite a popular perception that male-female pairings are the only “natural” way, the animal kingdom is actually full of examples of same-sex couples. Penguins, dolphins, bison, swans, giraffes, and chimpanzees are just a few of the many species that sometimes pair up with same-sex partners.

Researchers are still mulling over the evolutionary reason, if any, for gay animals, since they don’t produce offspring. Some ideas are that it helps strengthen social bonds or encourages some individuals to focus their resources on nurturing their nieces and nephews, thereby indirectly boosting their own genes.

Or, it may simply be fun. “Not every sexual act has a reproductive function,” said Janet Mann, a biologist at Georgetown University. Taken from Live Science. “Myths about Gay People”