• Question: can animals be gay

    Asked by tooher1998 to Sam on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Sam Tazzyman

      Sam Tazzyman answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      There are lots of species that engage in homosexual behaviour, but scientists are not sure why. One theory is that genes that make males gay would make females more fertile, and vice versa, so that genes that make females gay make males more fertile. But that’s only a hypothesis, and I don’t know of any evidence to support it. Many animals engage in both homosexual and heterosexual practices for various social reasons to do with the group they live in, such as to things peaceful, or to maintain an agreed hierarchy. Whatever the reasons behind it, homosexuality is a widely established part of the natural world. Here are some examples, from wikipedia:

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

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