It Takes a Kingdom

The Gay Animal Kingdom

From the JUN/JUL 2006 issue of Seed:

 Credit: Catherine Ledner

Joan Roughgarden thinks Charles Darwin made a terrible mistake. Not about natural selection—she's no bible-toting creationist—but about his other great theory of evolution: sexual selection. According to Roughgarden, sexual selection can't explain the homosexuality that's been documented in over 450 different vertebrate species. This means that same-sex sexuality—long disparaged as a quirk of human culture—is a normal, and probably necessary, fact of life. By neglecting all those gay animals, she says, Darwin misunderstood the basic nature of heterosexuality.

Male big horn sheep live in what are often called "homosexual societies." They bond through genital licking and anal intercourse, which often ends in ejaculation. If a male sheep chooses to not have gay sex, it becomes a social outcast. Ironically, scientists call such straight-laced males "effeminate."

Giraffes have all-male orgies. So do bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, gray whales, and West Indian manatees. Japanese macaques, on the other hand, are ardent lesbians; the females enthusiastically mount each other. Bonobos, one of our closest primate relatives, are similar, except that their lesbian sexual encounters occur every two hours. Male bonobos engage in "penis fencing," which leads, surprisingly enough, to ejaculation. They also give each other genital massages.

Continue reading "The Gay Animal Kingdom"

Jill Raymond:
Face Truth About Human Sexuality

Meanwhile in the animal kingdom fights for shelter, calls out the guard.

National Guard Ordered to New Orleans
    By Cain Burdeau
    The Associated Press

    Tuesday 20 June 2006

    New Orleans - Acting at the mayor's request, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Monday she would send National Guard troops and state police to patrol the streets of New Orleans after a bloody weekend in which six people were killed.

    "The situation is urgent," Blanco said. "Things like this should never happen, and I am going to do all I can to stop it."

    One hundred National Guardsmen with law enforcement experience and 60 state police officers were to be sent to the city Tuesday. Up to 200 more troops would be deployed after that, said Denise Bottcher, the governor's spokeswoman.

Grrawl .... do not think for one second seven murders rationalized moving in the national guard .... but this might, around seven thousand elderly, disabled and single working parents want to come home and HUD with HOPE VI, says no.

Bill Quigley:
HUD to New Orleans Poor: "Go F(ind) Yourself Housing)!"

Watching the wildlife on this perfect spaceship that is already taking us through the universe traveling at a comfortable cruising speed. Ignoring needed maintenance and care, mutiny is feared and it becomes questionable if we could co-exist anywhere, if not this planet.