"Aint Nothing But Mammals"

Page 339 "Class Discussion"

Klugar’s retelling of the facts in Biological Exuberance, raise many important aspects of “biological homosexuality,” an endless debate over homosexuality as an innate trait. He declares that many different animals are “doing it”, but humans are the only ones who are oppressed for it (Klugar 337). As far as the among of animals participating in homosexual mating, a shocking twenty percent of the 2,000 species, whose mating preferences have been studied, demonstrated same sex relations (Klugar 338). These species are not limited to animals who participate in sex for pleasure, like the dolphin, but also mice, elephants, giraffes, the bonobo monkey, and many more (Klugar 338). Another very strong point that not many people may realize is that these unions are not limited to one night stands or for temporary satisfaction, but can last a lifetime, just like any successful marriage (Klugar 338).

As pointed out by the text, someone opposing human homosexuality would say that the animals being studied might have other motives behind their mating (Klugar 339). It could be that they were not selected to be a mate by someone of the opposite sex and their instincts told them the next best option was a mate of the same sex. It is also possible, and plausible, that these particular pairs are an exception to the rule. How many individuals within that 450-specie range are demonstrating homosexual behavior? If it is a small percentage of that species, it can almost be written off as a fluke. Clearly it is not a large number because it still takes a male and female to reproduce and carry on the species, which is still the goal of evolution. If it were nature’s intention to have these unions, there would be a way for them to carry on the gene pool and be the “fittest” in game of survival.

In order to use this data presented in Biological Exuberance we need many more case studies. It is clear a wide variety of animals are showing a “natural” homosexuality, but to know their motives is impossible. Personally I do not think that using examples from the animal world will really help support the idea of innate homosexuality because there is just not enough definitive proof behind it. There are many other arguments for gender development and the argument at hand is just not fully developed enough to make a difference.