[extropy-chat] Biology of homosexuality- was Gay marriage in Spain

[The Avantguardian]

--- Evan Hamlin <hamlin_e at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Ahh c'mon, you don't mean that Damien. Its all in
> good fun. :)
> 
> To be honest, I'm done with the homosexuality
> debate. Over. Finito. Though 
> I'll admit I'm still curious what causes it.

Ok, I will try to explain it in this post but I don't
have a lot of time so expect it to be short and sweet.

> 
> "It has been proven that the pig is the only
> homosexual animal. As this 
> perversion is most prevalent in pork-eating nations,
> it is obvious that it 
> gets into your genes through the meat." -Tasleem
> Ahmed - Islamic missionary, 
> from a Muslim mission in Galaway Ireland, first
> quoted in London's 
> "Freethinker" magazine

This is patently untrue. Pigs are only one of several
animal species known to engage in homosexual behavior.
There are that do it in the wild like macaques,
bonobos, dolphins, penguins, and flamingos. Others
that don't exhibit homosexual behavior in the wild, do
so in the crowded and limited mating conditions of
captivity. For example mice are not normally
homosexual, but you put a bunch of male mice into a
cage together without any females and they will
brutally fight each other and try to force weaker
males to submit to being mounted and treated like
females.
     Macaques and several other species of monkeys use
homosexuality as a method of enforcing dominance
hiearchies, where alpha males routinely mount the beta
males and the beta males mount the gamma males.    
      Male dolphins on the other hand are just plain
horny and will try to mate with anything including
each other and males and females of other species
(like human divers). They are also known to rape
female dolphins, often cooperating in groups with
other males to do so.
      The most sophiticated expression of
homosexuality in the animal kingdom (apart from humans
of course) is that of the bonobos or pygmy chimps.
Actual chimpanzee culture is one of endless strife and
suffering where the dominant chimps of both sexes
routinely beat the tar out of their subordinates,
taking their shady spot by the tree or their banana or
what have you. This excessive violence of chimpanzee
culture is contrasted by that of the bonobos.
      Bonobo heiarchy seems to operate on the exchange
of sexual favors to appease the dominant individuals
without regard to actual gender. e.g instead of taking
the weaker male's banana a dominant male will likely
settle for oral sex. Females will carress and fondle
each other and life becomes one big orgy with almost
no violent confrontations between anyone. No violence
means more survival and offspring in long run, thus
homosexuality in the bonobo is very obviously an
adaptive trait.
      Interestingly enough human homosexuality
increases in crowded conditions like prisons and
cities as opposed to the wide-open farms of the
midwest. Also while homosexuality might be considered
taboo in historically RECENT western cultures like
Victorian England, it was accepted and even glorified
in ancient western cultures such as the Greeks and the
Romans. Read Plato and Sallust if you don't believe
me.   
      
     Here is a link that could be a good starting
point for those curious about homosexuality in
animals.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal.html



The Avantguardian 
is 
Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven't attempted to contact us." 
-Bill Watterson

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