Gay penguins

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1275591.html

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Keepers at the zoo ordered DNA tests to be carried out on the penguins after they had been mating for years without producing any chicks.

It was only then they realised that six of the birds were living in homosexual partnerships.

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You can read the rest at the link provided.

Just thought this was interesting enough to link people to.

The Gay Penguin story made it to The Daily Show, where they interviewed spokespeople for conservative organizations. One of them stated that there was no such thing as homosexual animals, and that the gay penguins were just another example of scientists under control of the "homosexual agenda."

I know I consult my copy of the Homosexual Agenda every day in lab before I invent my results - don't all scientists?

Your inventing your results? lucky you - I just get sent them from Atheist high command.

Why gay people should NOT be allowed to get married 12 reasons why gay people should not be allowed to get married 1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control. (You just imagined the penguins. Anyway, penguins are unnatural: they're birds, they fly underwater. Nuff said.) 2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can't legally get married because the world needs more children. 3. Obviously, gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children. 4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if Gay marriage is allowed, since Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful. 5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are property, blacks can't marry whites, and divorce is illegal. 6. Gay marriage should be decided by people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities. 7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America. 8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall. 9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. 10. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children. 11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to things like cars or longer life spans. 12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a "separate but equal" institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages for gays and lesbians will.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

When I first heard the "unnatural" argument, I bursted out laughing for a long time. It immediately occurred to me that these so-called Christians were using animal behavior as a guidance for human morality.

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I know I consult my copy of the Homosexual Agenda every day in lab before I invent my results - don't all scientists

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Cmon...don't give away all our secrets! I am writing up a paper on ERV expression in non-human primates. According to page 6 of the Homosexual Agenda, I have to declare that my results prove my neighbors cat is gay.....see you at the next H Agenda meeting...don't forget the secret hand shake.

I saw a documentary some time ago about homosexuality amongst animals. Though I can't remember much specific detail, the basic impression was that it is certainly not uncommon.

Could be an interesting topic of discussion, the evolutionary advantage of homosexuality. The fact is that it does happen (and not only in humans), so I would think there is a sound biological reason for it.

Any thoughts?

Thor writes: Any thoughts?

Sure. Would you like to make a bet? I bet 5 bucks that, despite all the evidence, there are still those on here who believe that homosexuality is not "natural," whatever that means. In fact, if another homosexuality thread turns up again, we will see almost the exact words "it's wrong because it is not natural..."

… ERV expression in non-human primates.

Thanks to recently reading Darwin’s Radio & Darwin’s Children (both by Greg Bear) I now have some inkling as to what you are talking about there. (cool and potentially frightening stuff.)

But I digress.

Gay animals, gay humans, Unnatural? Hell no! Abnormal maybe, but never unnatural.

--Edit-- Corrected the accreditation of the two books mentioned, ooops! --

This message has been edited by ohnhai, 10 February 2005 16:36 AM

Could be an interesting topic of discussion, the evolutionary advantage of homosexuality.

Yep, there's already been threads about it, including Homosexuality and Genetics, which you can check out and resurrect if you have anything to add.

I would think there is a sound biological reason for it.

One hypothesis is that a genetic makeup that results in homosexual males also results in hyper-fertile heterosexual females, who in addition to having more progeny, may have homosexual male family members to help insure her progeny's success. A reference can be found in the thread Gay gene increases female fertility.

As long as they believe that there is no homosexual behavior in animals they will spout it as proof that it isn't natural.

As soon as it is shown that there are homosexual behaviors in the rest of the animal kingdom all of a sudden you can't be comparing humans to animals.

Take your pick

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Asgara
"Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever....but get over it"

select * from USERS where CLUE > 0

http://asgarasworld.bravepages.com
http://perditionsgate.bravepages.com

Sure. Would you like to make a bet? I bet 5 bucks that, despite all the evidence, there are still those on here who believe that homosexuality is not "natural," whatever that means.

I agree with you 100%, so I don't think I'll take that bet!

An interesting hypothesis.

Thanks for those links, I'll have a look.

bigot: homosexuality is not natural.

wwjd: penguins do it.

bigot: man is supposed to be better than animals.

wwjd: make up your mind.

http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/cns/2002-06-10/591.asp

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Wendell and Cass, two penguins at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn, live in a soap opera world of seduction and intrigue. Among the 22 male and 10 female African black-footed penguins in the aquarium's exhibit, tales of love, lust and betrayal are the norm. These birds mate for life. But given the disproportionate male-female ratio at the aquarium, some of the females flirt profusely and dump their partners for single males with better nests.

Wendell and Cass, however, take no part in these cunning schemes. They have been completely devoted to each other for the last eight years. In fact, neither one of them has ever been with anyone else, says their keeper, Stephanie Mitchell.

But the partnership of Wendell and Cass adds drama in another way. They're both male. That is to say, they're gay penguins.

This is not unusual. "There are a lot of animals that have same-sex relations, it's just that people don't know about it," Mitchell said. "I mean, Joe Schmoe on the street is not someone who's read all sorts of biology books."

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You can read the rest of the article at the link.