Reactions to Norwegian Gay Animal Display. . .

[kevinbgoode]

The BBC has an interesting account of reactions to the homoanimals display at the Natural History Museum in Oslo. This is the exhibit in which some 51 animals in various homosexual relationships are displayed - and there is documentation that some 500 species have been studied and experience the same thing.

What is interesting about all of this is how this research has been swept under the rug for so long, no doubt the censored sort of product which con-servatives call "moral" correctness. It never fails to amaze me to see the extent fundies will go to eliminate all mention of our reality.

Anyway, here is the story:

Oslo gay animal show draws crowds

Penguins regularly form same-sex pairs. Photo: Per Aas/NHM-Oslo
Curators say a Norwegian exhibition on homosexuality among animals has been well received, despite initial indications of strong opposition.
The Oslo Natural History Museum opened the show last week and says it has been well attended, not least by families.

Organisers reported early criticism of the project, and being told by one opponent they would "burn in hell".

But there has been strong interest in an aspect of animal behaviour the museum says is quite common.

It says homosexuality has been observed among 1,500 species, and that in 500 of those it is well documented.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6066606.stm

[pitohui]

1. well good for them

it is certainly a reality of life among the parrots

[Mojambo]

2. Somewhere Rick Santorum is reaching for some hand cream. n/t

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. I wonder if anything analagous to human homophobia...

... has been observed in any other species.

[AlienGirl]

5. Not as far as I know

In several species of seabirds, because each male will own a certain amount of territory, a pairing of two males actually gives the chicks of that couple an advantage early on in life. (They often obtain eggs by rolling a few out of the nest of a nearby male-female couple.)

In white-tail deer there is a "third sex" that consists of males whose antler-velvet is never shed and who have slightly more doe-like than buck-like behavior. They live in herds together and have been seen mating with each other, but this has also been observed among "normal" white-tail bucks and "normal" does.

Animals will frequently attack and drive away group-members that are behaviorally or physically different from the norm, but sex with members of the same sex doesn't seem to be "different" enough to provoke this reaction, not the way that being unable to understand social signals or being injured does.

Tucker

[Mythsaje]

4. "Burn in hell."

Huh. You'd think those folks thought the organizers were FORCING the animals to engage in "gay" behavior.

Not like it was hard wired in by "God" or anything.