GLBT - Because it is Natural.

[bluedawg12]

It’s so “unnatural that nature is replete with examples of GLBT life forms.

The audacity of gay! :rofl:

"No species has been found in which homosexual behaviour has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all, such as sea urchins and aphis. Moreover, a part of the animal kingdom is hermaphroditic, truly bisexual. For them, homosexuality is not an issue."
—Petter Bøckman

Homosexual sexual behavior occurs in the animal kingdom, especially in social species, particularly in marine birds and mammals, monkeys, and the great apes. Homosexual behavior has been observed among 1,500 species, and in 500 of those it is well documented.<136><137>. This discovery constitutes a major argument against those calling into question the biological legitimacy or naturalness of homosexuality, or those regarding it as a meditated social decision. For example, male penguin couples have been documented to mate for life, build nests together, and to use a stone as a surrogate egg in nesting and brooding. In a well-publicized story from 2004, the Central Park Zoo in the United States replaced one male couple's stone with a fertile egg, which the couple then raised as their own offspring.<138>

The genetic basis of animal homosexuality has been studied in the fly Drosophila melanogaster.<139> Here, multiple genes have been identified that can cause homosexual courtship and mating.<140> These genes are thought to control behavior through pheromones as well as altering the structure of the animal's brains.<141><142> These studies have also investigated the influence of environment on the likelihood of flies displaying homosexual behavior.<143><144>

Georgetown University professor Janet Mann has specifically theorized that homosexual behavior, at least in dolphins, is an evolutionary advantage that minimizes intraspecies aggression, especially among males.<145> Studies indicating prenatal homosexuality in certain animal species have had social and political implications surrounding the gay rights debate.<146>

Two Hundred Years at Looking at Homosexual Wildlife, Explaining (Away) Animal Homosexuality and Not For Breeding Only in his 1999 book Biological Exuberance to the "documentation of systematic prejudices" where he notes "the present ignorance of biology lies precisely in its single-minded attempt to find reproductive (or other) "explanations" for homosexuality, transgender, and non-procreative and alternative heterosexualities. Petter Bøckman, academic adviser for the Against Nature? exhibit states

"Many researchers have described homosexuality as something altogether different from sex. They must realise that animals can have sex with who they will, when they will and without consideration to a researcher's ethical principles". :rofl:

Homosexual behavior is widespread amongst social birds and mammals, particularly the sea mammals and the primates.



Two New York Central Park Zoo's male chinstrap penguins, similar to those pictured, became internationally known when they coupled and later were given an egg that needed hatching and care, which they successfully did

List of mammals displaying homosexual behavior

Selected mammals from the full list
African Elephant
Brown Bear
Brown Rat
Buffalo
Caribou
Cat (domestic)
Cheetah
Common Dolphin
Common Marmoset
Common Raccoon
Dog (domestic)
European Bison
Human
Bonobos

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality#cite_note-seattle2002-145

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. OMG I love the story about the penguins!!

Awww... :loveya:

[bluedawg12]

3. Yupper!

I thought it was very beautiful. So sweet.

[msongs]

2. its certainly not rare amongst LDS/catholic/baptist church progeny nt

[bluedawg12]

4. Yeah, but they deny their own.

Maybe we should get a list of all the repug progeny that are gay. It seems it's not nurture.

[Voice for Peace]

5. thanks!

great post.

[bluedawg12]

6. GLBT is beautiful and natural

and thank YOU! :)

[Ellen Forradalom]

7. The Audacity of Gay Bwhahahahah!

I love it! When are you getting a book contract?

[bluedawg12]

8. LOL! Soon as we are all treated like

the normal part of nature we really are. :woohoo:

[Ellen Forradalom]

9. I'm teaching my son that right now

one little thing a str8 mom can do.

I showed my son a flickr slideshow of the Silverlake protest. I've been talking to him about Prop 8, about gays and straights and marriage in fairly simplified terms. (We'll do nuance later.)

[bluedawg12]

10. Good for you - family values

begin at home!

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. You betcha

this shit stops with my son's generation, I hope.

[bluedawg12]

12. You betcha >wink

if I never see that again it will be too soon. LOL

I do have great hopes for this next crop of young folks coming up the line--I think there's hope there. Lot's of it.

[MuseRider]

13. Good for you!

I did the same with my two boys. When my brother came home to me with AIDS and died they still did not know he was gay, they never even thought to ask, I had to tell them. One was in his first year of college and the other his last year in high school. That was when I knew I had done well. When I told them they were pretty stunned, they had never thought about it.

[sui generis]

14. well, it IS unnatural

to distinguish it culturally. In human culture it has pretty much been a given without a particular label for as long as we have written history.

Whether it's natural or not is irrelevant. It's a choice that anyone should be able to make as an adult, whether you identify as "born" gay or not. Freedom is about freedom of choice, not protection of genetic phenotypes.

[bluedawg12]

16. Great point, I can see where my logic

is not refined.

The next time someone argues, "but it's a choice, not born that way."

My answer will be, "That's the point! Free people should have a choice."

Maybe I am still battling old debates ( the saying is the army always fights the last war! LOL) maybe I need to be clearer on this and not worry about the religiously based argument that it's unnatural.

Which is pretty much what scientists do when they study these behaviors in the various phyla, they observe what is without cultural context.

The rw frames the context and then we/I get drawn into their battle ground not mine.

In the meantime, it's still a good thing for GLBT people to see that our human behavior is not an aberration in terms of nature - if for no other reason than to help us get to the next step, the one we discussed.

Even if it's not a choice, it is a liberty, and we are all free and we are all due life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

ETA: However, then, I can just see it, the next argument will be: the marrying your dog scenario, anything goes question. Which, by the way, isn't so bad, I have two great dogs. :rofl:

[RetiredTrotskyite]

15. Thanks SO Much For Posting!!

Of course, GLBT is natural!
The story about the two chinstrap penguins is sweet and absolutely made my day!!!

[bluedawg12]

17. Thank yo for your supportive comments through out!

Yes, it is a good story.

[bluedawg12]

18. Adding lesbian Bonobos to the list.

Lesbian Bonobos:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo#Sexual_social_behavior

Bonobo females also engage in female-female genital sexual behavior, (tribadism), to bond socially with each other, thus forming a female nucleus of Bonobo society. The bonding among females allows them to dominate Bonobo society - although male Bonobos are individually stronger, they cannot stand alone against a united group of females.

Adolescent females often leave their native community to join another community. Sexual bonding with other females establishes the new females as members of the group. This migration mixes the Bonobo gene pools, providing genetic diversity...

Closeness to humans
Bonobos are capable of passing the mirror-recognition test for self-awareness. They communicate primarily through vocal means, although the meanings of their vocalizations are not currently known. However, most humans do understand their facial expressions<10> and some of their natural hand gestures, such as their invitation to play. Two Bonobos at the Great Ape Trust, Kanzi and Panbanisha, have been taught how to communicate using a keyboard labeled with lexigrams (geometric symbols) and they can respond to spoken sentences.

........