Republished from:
Canine Sexuality: Do Gay Dogs Exist?
by Alex De La Cruz - July, 2009
I happened to witness one of the annual Gay Parades in California where thousands of gays and lesbians celebrated their pride
and freedom. For the year 2009, the yearly event falls on July 18th and 19th. This annual celebration was started in 1977 when
the issue of homosexual discrimination was tackled by government officials in the white house where several homosexual activists attended.
From that time on, those activists held annual parade garnishing the streets with their stylish attires and banners,
including gay dog owners and their … gay dogs? Homosexuality is indeed widespread in the current world – the human world at the least.
But I have also encountered several questions as to whether homosexuality is also an issue in the animal kingdom.
If you happen to see a male dog riding over another male dog and doing what canines usually do when they want to breed,
would you say they are gay dogs? There have been certain animal homosexual pairings observed in zoos and many studies have concluded
that there indeed are homosexual animals.
Animal species that were found out to be engaged this unusual sexual behavior include apes and gorillas, rams, penguins, swans,
whales, dolphins, elephants, giraffes, lions, and according some, cats and dogs! For some reason, these animals engage in sexual
activities that often even result to ejaculation; well you might say, waste of fluid.
According to some researchers however, animals, in their limited mental capacities, have deeper reasons for engaging in homosexual activities, so “gay dogs” may not actually be gays. For example, an estimated 25% of all male black swans engage in homosexual pairing and steal nests or form temporary threesome with a female swan and drive her away after she lays her eggs.
The pair of gay birds would then take possession of the nest. Protecting their new territory is a lot easier compared to other
pairs since they are both males. They will then end up becoming model parents if they happen to wangle some eggs from other swans.
Yet even without the eggs, two males mean being able to defend larger territories which sounds like a double-income-no-kids-situation.
In this case, pairing is not solely sexually-driven but more of a survival technique. Similarly, there are several possible
reasons why canines engage in animal homosexual behavior. One of the most considered reasons is the desire for dominance. We know
that canines are pack animals and dominance or being a top or an alpha dog is important to them.
One way to show that supremacy is by mounting over another male. Contrary to what others believe, canines that do this are not
necessarily gay dogs and dominance should not take homosexual mounting as a definition. Aside from dominance, sexual pleasure is another
reason. Captured male dogs that are confined in cages may engage in homosexual activities to derive sexual satisfaction, due to the
inaccessibility of female dogs.
Just imagine how the same thing happens to humans who get imprisoned for several years. Since canines act according to their
instincts, they will try to get sexual satisfaction from other sources if bitches are unavailable but that does not give us sufficient
reason to conclude they are gay dogs.
Likewise, a female dog mounting over another bitch must be trying to send a message to male dogs that she is in heat,
thus making the first move toward mating. Finally, researchers have assigned several other reasons for why some dogs appear to be gay dogs.
It could be a race of stamina, aggression, a desire to play, or a mere greeting.
Whatever the reason is, no one can really tell, even if you see a dog wearing a gay pride t-shirt. Moreover, bear in mind that
canine homosexuality (if it does exist) is not a big issue in polygamous animals like dogs
.
About the author
Alex De La Cruz is a successful Dog Trainer who has been advising and coaching dog owners for many years.
Alex now decided to share his knowledge through this site, Doggyweb.info
Republished from:
Gay animals confound Darwin but scientists say
they could be key to survival of species
By Nell Frizzell • June 17, 2009 - 11:37
More than 450 species of animals display gay behavior, scientists have found.
In a paper, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, they suggested that homosexuality among animals may be vital for the survival of the
species.
“The variety and ubiquity of same-sex sexual behavior in animals is impressive,” wrote the paper's authors Nathan Bailey and
Marlene Zuk. “Many thousands of instances of same-sex courtship, pair bonding and copulation have been observed in a wide range of species,
including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, mollusks and nematodes.”
"It's been observed a lot," Bailey, a post-doctoral researcher at University of California, Riverside continued.
"But it took people a long time to put it in an evolutionary context."
For traditional Darwinism, the notion of animals indulging in behavior that will not result in procreation may seem confounding.
However, Bailey and Zuk have argued that in many cases, gay behavior in fact supports a species and can improve the chances of survival.
For instance, a third of all bonded Layton albatrosses live in all-female couples. This helps the colony, which has far more female than
male birds, because the females will share the parenting while the males carry out opportunistic mating.
However, homosexual behavior is sometimes simply a case of mistaken identity. “Male fruit flies may court other males because
they are lacking a gene that enables them to discriminate between the sexes,” explained Bailey.
Whether it is because of group bonding, sensual pleasure, mistaken identity or adaptive parenting, Bailey and Zuk's study has
supported the notion that gay behaviour is universal across the animal world.
Earlier this month, we reported that a gay penguin couple living in a German zoo were rearing a chick together.
One of four gay couples in Bremerhaven zoo, Z and Vielpunk were handed the egg by staff after it appeared to be rejected by its actual
parents.
In April, a member of Poland's Law and Justice party criticized a zoo for acquiring an elephant that might be gay.
Poznan Zoo in the west of the country, is home to Ninio.
Councilor Michal Grazes told local media that the animal preferred male company and would probably not procreate, wasting huge
amounts of the governments money.
"We didn't pay 37 million zlotys (£7.6 million) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there," he said.
