Are there homosexual animals?

Author: Laura McKinney
Date Of Creation: 3 August 2021
Update Date: 15 December 2024
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The animal kingdom proves that homosexuality is natural in hundreds of species and, if not, in almost all that exist. A large study done in 1999 looked at the behavior of 1500 species of supposedly homosexual animals.

However, this and several other studies carried out over the years have shown that the issue goes far beyond labeling homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual animals. Among the animals there are no records of prejudice or rejection in relation to this topic, sexuality is treated as something quite normal and without the taboos as it happens among humans.

In this article by PeritoAnimal we will explain if in fact there are homosexual animals, what is known so far and we will tell some stories of couples formed by animals of the same sex who became known around the world. Good reading!


Homosexuality in the Animal Kingdom

Are there homosexual animals? Yes. By definition, homosexuality is characterized when an individual has sexual relations with another individual in the same sex. Although some authors are against the use of the term homosexual for non-human beings, it is still more accepted to say that there are homosexual animals that characterize them as gay animals or lesbians.

The main research ever done on the subject turned into a book published in 1999 by Canadian biologist Bruce Bagemihl. At work Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity, in free translation)[1], he reports that homosexual behavior is almost universal in the animal kingdom: it was observed in over 1,500 species of animals and well documented in 450 of them, between mammals, birds, reptiles and insects, for example.


According to the study by Bagemihl and several other researchers, there is very great sexual diversity in the animal kingdom, not just with homosexuality or bisexuality, but also with the common practice of sex for the simple pleasure of the animal, without reproductive purposes.

However, some researchers claim that there are few species in which animals have a homosexual orientation for life, as occurs, for example, with the domesticated sheep (Ovies Aries). In the book Animal Homosexuality: A Biosocial Perspective (Animal homosexuality: A Biosocial Perspective, in free translation)[2], researcher Aldo Poiani states that, during their lifetime, 8% of sheep refuse to mate with females, but normally do so with other sheep. This is not to say that individuals of several other species do not have such behavior. We will see in this article that animals other than sheep spend years with the same partner of the same sex. Speaking of them, in this other article you discover animals that don't sleep or sleep very little.


Reasons for homosexuality among animals

Among the reasons given by researchers to justify homosexual behavior among animals, if justifications are necessary, are the search for breeding or community maintenance, social affirmation, evolutionary issues or even the lack of males in a given group, as we will see later in this article.

Crickets, monkeys, crabs, lions, wild ducks.... in each species, the inconclusive studies show that the homosexual relationship is not just about sex, but, in many of them, also about affection and companionship. There are numerous animals of the same sex that breed sentimental bonds and they stay together for many, many years, like elephants. Here you can learn more about how animals communicate.

Next, we will present some species in which there are studies and/or records on couples of individuals of the same sex and also some of the best known cases of homosexuality in the animal kingdom.

Japanese monkeys (Beetle monkey)

During the mating season, competition among Japanese monkeys is great. Males compete with each other for the attention of potential mates, but they also compete with other females. They climb on top of the other and rub their genitals together to win her over. If the goal is successful, they can stay together for weeks, even to defend against possible rivals, be they males or even other females. But what was noticed when studying the behavior of this species, is that even when females participate in sexual relations with other females, they remain interested in the males, which means that they would be bisexual animals.[3]

Penguins (Spheniscidae)

There are several records of homosexual behavior among penguins. A gay couple of the species who live in a zoo in Germany has been causing a stir. In 2019, the two stole an egg from the nest of a heterosexual couple, but unfortunately, the egg did not hatch. Not satisfied, in October 2020 they stole all the eggs from another nest, this time from a pair of penguins made up of two females.[4] Until the end of this article there was no information about the birth or not of the little penguins. Another couple of females had already hatched the egg of another couple in the aquarium in Valencia, Spain (see photo below).

Vultures (Gyps fulvus)

In 2017, a couple formed by two males gained international fame as they became parents. The vultures at the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, Holland, who had been together for years, hatched an egg. That's right. Zoo employees put an egg that had been abandoned by the mother in their nest and they took care of the task very well, exercising parenthood well (see photo below).[5]

Fruit flies (Tephritidae)

For the first few minutes of fruit flies' life, they try to mate with any fly that is close to them, whether female or male. Only after learning to identify the virgin female odor that males focus on them.

Bonobos (pan paniscus)

Sex among chimps of the Bonobo species has an important function: to consolidate the social relationships. They can use sex to get closer to dominant group members to gain more status and respect in the community in which they live. Therefore, it is common for both males and females to have homosexual relationships.

Brown beetles (Tribolium castaneum)

Brown beetles have a curious strategy for breeding. They copulate with each other and may even deposit sperm in their male partners. If the animal that carries this sperm then mates with a female, she may be fertilized. In this way, a male can fertilize a much larger number of females, as he does not need to court them all, as is common in the species. What is also noted in this species is that brown beetles are not exclusively homosexual.

Giraffes (Giraffe)

Among giraffes, sex between individuals of the same sex is more common than between partners of the opposite sex. In 2019, the Munich Zoo, Germany, supported the Gay Pride parade highlighting precisely this species of animal. At the time, one of the local biologists stated that the giraffes are bisexual and that in some groups of the species, 90% of the acts are homosexual.

Laysan Albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis)

These large birds, as well as macaws and other species, usually stay "married" for life, taking care of their young. However, according to a study carried out in Hawaii by the University of Minnesota, in the United States, three out of 10 couples of these animals are formed by two unrelated females. Interestingly, they take care of offspring generated by males who "jump around" their stable relationships to mate with one or both females of the same-sex couple.

Lions (panthera leo)

Many lions abandon lionesses to form groups of homosexual animals. According to some biologists, about 10% of sexual intercourse in this species it happens with animals of the same sex. Among the lionesses, there are only records of the practice of homosexual relationships when they are in captivity.

swans and geese

In swans homosexuality is also a constant. In 2018, a male couple had to be removed from a lake in Austria because the two were attacking too many humans in the region. The reason would be to protect your child.

That same year, but in the city of Waikanae, New Zealand, the goose Thomas died. He gained international fame after spending 24 years with the swan Henry. The couple became even more popular after starting a love triangle with the female swan Henriette. The three together took care of her little swans. Henry had already died in 2009 and, shortly thereafter, Thomas was abandoned by Henriette, who went to live with another animal of its kind. Since then Thomas lived alone.[6]

In the photo below we have a photo of Thomas (white goose) beside Henry and Henrietta.

Now that you know a little more about homosexual animals, gay or bisexual animals, maybe you might be interested in this other article from PeritoAnimal: can a dog be gay?

If you want to read more articles similar to Are there homosexual animals?, we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.