(Untitled)

[thirdworld]

Yesterday in the news the BBC had the following news article:
Gay outrage over penguin sex test

This is the gist of the story:Gay rights activists have protested at a north German zoo's plans to test the sexual orientation of six male penguins which have displayed homosexual traits. Bremerhaven's Zoo am Meer said it would introduce four extra

Comments

[kgkofmel]

Okay everybody, let's learn a new word for today:

Bisexual

Isn't that a nice new word?

[thirdworld]

I have a great fondness for that word!

[ann_totusek]

Farm kid popping up with a reality check here. On farms where males and females are segregated, or there is a herd with a male that gets all the girls and the other males are S.O.L. if they want one, males will behave sexually aggressively towards each other. This does not necessarily mean that they're gay- as mentioned above it may only reflect a shortage of females. Funny shaped nookie may be better than none... ;) Also doesn't mean that they're NOT gay. If they introduce females and they're still not interested, well then, I guess the issue's decided. It's not like they're capable of forcing the penguins to do anything. Even if they showed them "penguin porn" to get them interested, it's still not forcing them- just exposing them to behavior that they would normally encounter in the wild that they may not have encountered in captivity if they were in an all male environment. Activists on both sides of the argument need to take a cue from the birds and chill.

[thirdworld]

I agree. I've known cats that showed no interest in mating and have heard enough stories through the years. But in general, animals (humans included) in captivity just don't behave normally. In fact I think that the "activists" complaining about this issue are weakening their argument, much the same as conservatives do when they cling to illogical arguments. No matter what you believe you have to let reality in, and you have to question and think.

[moniqueleigh]

From what I recall, penguins are serial monogamists: they're monogamous for the season. The same couple may or may not get together the next season (or any other season).

Otherwise, I'm with you on this one. Who the hell cares if the penguins are gay, bi, straight but looking for nookie of any kind, confused ("hey, we all look alike; are you sure you're not a lady penguin?" (jk)), or what?

In cases of rare animal breeding, the keepers/environmentalists/other interested parties are going to do anything in their power to convince the animals in question to get together at least long enough to create more critters. Failing that, I'm sure they'll start talking IVF & similar.

[thirdworld]

LOL. On the, "we all look alike," part they sound like Tolkien's Dwarfs.

On the rest, agreed. Most people in the business of animal breeding don't care about anything other than what is good for breeding. The politics don't concern them one bit, unless they impact their goal. Anything else will likely lose them their job and/or see them fail in their goals.

[frstythesnowman]

(South Park counsellor voice) Um. Gay <> smart. mmm k?

People will get wound up over the smallest things.

I was reading your post...and almost started posting before I finished reading--this topic is hitting nerves I didn't know I had--- that you already covered my points.

A male only environment (like prison) leads to sex btwn men. No big surprise this happens in a zoo too--which is just a prison for animals {though current Canadian zoos have privacy areas for the inmates).

I read a book about Canadian military personnel, stationed up north. With no females. When they caught a female polar bear in a bear trap the guys went crazy. A live female. Didn't matter to them that she was 1000 pounds heavier than them... she was "legal" since she was female. Sick, but published as truth. I hope she enjoyed the attention...'cause otherwise you get into rape of animals too.

[thirdworld]

Indeed, as I recall a couple of venereal diseases were brought back to Europe by those out "conquering" the world (all men) and that they were caught from animals.

Oh and on the gay != smart, I agree. Gay = just as stupid as the rest of us. For example, I've known too many gay racists in my time.