Thus homosexual behavior has been given a number of terms over the years. Animal preference and motivation is always inferred from behavior. On the other hand, homosexuality is natural, and therefore the existence of homosexual sex in animals is unsurprising. Homosexuality in animals is controversial with some social conservatives because it asserts the naturalness of homosexuality in humans, while others counter that it has no implications and is nonsensical to equate animal behavior to morality. Bagemihl's research shows that homosexual behavior, not necessarily sexual activity, has been documented in about 500 species as of 1999, ranging from primates to gut worms. Īnimal sexual behavior takes many different forms, even within the same species and the motivations for and implications of their behaviors have yet to be fully understood. Homosexual behavior is found amongst social birds and mammals, particularly the sea mammals and the primates. They must realise that animals can have sex with who they will, when they will and without consideration to a researcher's ethical principles". Petter Bøckman, academic adviser for the Against Nature? exhibit, stated "any researchers have described homosexuality as something altogether different from sex. He devotes three chapters, "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. įor these mammals, there is documented evidence of homosexual behavior of one or more of the following kinds: sexual behavior, courtship, affection, pair bonding, or parenting.īruce Bagemihl writes that the presence of same-sex sexual behavior was not officially observed on a large scale until the 1990s due to possible observer bias caused by social attitudes towards LGBT people, which made homosexuality in animals a taboo subject. Giraffes in Kenya giraffes have been called "especially gay" for often engaging in male-male sexual behavior more than male-female ( heterosexual) sex.