Bruce Bagemihl - Biological Exuberance

In a parallel discussion of female pairs in Western Gulls, one researcher suggests that previous descriptions of such pairs as “homosexual” or “lesbian” or “gay” is inappropriate because they do not resemble homosexual pairings in humans. 45But which homosexual pairings, in which humans? As discussed in chapter 2, there is no single type of same-sex pair-bonding in people: homosexual couples differ vastly in a wide range of factors such as their sexual behavior, social status, formation process, sexual orientation of members, participation in parenting, duration, and so on, and they vary enormously between different cultures, historical periods, and individuals. Assuming, however, that this author is referring to Euro-American lesbian couples, it is difficult to see what specific similarities are required before the label of homosexual would be considered acceptable. Same-sex pairs in both Gulls and humans engage in a variety of courtship, pair-bonding, sexual, and parenting activities and exhibit parallel variability in their formation, social status, and the sexual orientation of their partners. In fact, it is fallacious to suggest that a same-sex activity should resemble some human behavior before we can label it homosexual. A more reasonable approach (the one used in this book as well as in many scientific sources) is to take comparable behaviors in the same or closely related species as the point of reference: any activity between two animals of the same sex that involves behaviors independently recognized (usually in heterosexual contexts) as courtship, sexual, pair-bonding, or parenting activities is classified as “homosexual.” By this criterion, same-sex pairs of Gulls are “homosexual” because all of the characteristics they exhibit are well-established components of pair-bonding in heterosexual pairs of the same species—to the extent that same-sex couples have often been mistaken for heterosexual ones and unhesitatingly labeled a “mated pair” before their true sex was discovered.

More generally, a number of scientists have suggested that the term homosexual should be reserved for overt sexual behavior, and that it is inappropriate to apply this word to other behavior categories such as same-sex courtship, pair-bonding, or parenting arrangements. We might characterize this as a “narrow” definition of homosexuality (such as that assumed by Lorenz). On the other hand, homosexuality, as the term is used in this book, refers not only to overt sexual behavior between animals of the same sex, but also to related activities that are more typically associated with a heterosexual or breeding context. This usage is consistent with a number of studies in the zoological literature, in which the word is employed as a cover term for both sexual and related behaviors (e.g., courtship, pairing, parenting). 46We might characterize this as a “broad” definition of homosexuality. Although overt sexual behavior is by far the single most common type of same-sex activity found in various species—hence the original terminology—the other behavior categories also occur in a sizable proportion of cases in which same-sex activities have been documented. In many (but not all) species, behaviors of various categories co-occur (e.g., sexual and courtship activity with pair-bonding, courtship or bonding with parenting, and so on). There are also numerous cases where only one behavior type is instantiated, or where several behavior categories co-occur in the same species but are not necessarily observed in the same individuals (e.g., sexual behavior may be seen between some animals, courtship behavior between others, etc.). In some cases this represents actual discontinuities of behaviors; in others, it represents observational gaps. When the term homosexuality is employed in the broad sense for these cases, it is always with the understanding that only selected behavior categories or co-occurrences may be involved (as in observations of heterosexual behavior). 47

The difference between these two usages of the term homosexual can be illustrated with an example involving two different forms of same-sex activity (each widely attested in birds, sometimes both in the same species). On one hand, consider two female birds that are pair-bonded to each other for life, regularly engage in courtship activity with one another, build a nest each year in which they jointly lay eggs, and on one occasion raise chicks together (fathered via a single heterosexual copulation that season by one of the partners), yet never mount each other. On the other hand, consider a male bird who is mated to a female partner for life—with whom he regularly copulates and raises offspring—but who participates in a single copulation with another male (and never again engages in such behavior for the remainder of his life). A narrow definition of homosexuality would require us to consider the first case to be somehow less “homosexual” than the second simply because no overt sexual behavior takes place between the two females. A broad view of homosexuality, on the other hand, recognizes that both cases involve homosexual behavior—but of two distinct types that need to be carefully distinguished in terms of their social context as well as the other sexual and pairing activities of the participants (since both scenarios actually exemplify contrasting forms of bisexuality ). Unlike the narrow definition, this usage acknowledges the complexities and variability of same-sex interactions in the animal world, while providing a useful framework for cross-species comparisons and generalizations; it also offers the possibility of more precise and nuanced characterizations of sexual orientation.

Most scientists are understandably wary of anthropomorphizing animals with terms that have wide applicability in a human context—as well they should be—and obviously not all zoologists who avoid the word homosexual are motivated by homophobia. Nevertheless, the lengths that are taken to circumvent terminology that can easily be clarified with a simple explanatory statement often border on the absurd. 48

Even when homosexual behavior is recognized as such, detailed study of it is often omitted or passed over, or the phenomenon is marginalized and trivialized. For instance, numerous published reports on the courtship and copulation behavior of animals provide excruciatingly detailed descriptions and statistics on frequency of mounts, number of ejaculations, duration of penile erections, number of thrusts, timing of estrous cycles, total number of sexual partners, and so on and so forth—but all for heterosexual interactions. In contrast, homosexual activity is often mentioned only in passing, not deemed worthy of the exhaustive coverage that is afforded “real” sexual behavior. 49In a detailed study of Spinner Dolphin sexual activity, for example, only heterosexual behavior is quantified and given a thorough statistical treatment, even though the author recognizes the prominence of homosexual activity in this species and actually states directly that its frequency exceeds that of heterosexual behavior. Another study of the same species mentions homosexual copulations without providing the total number observed, unlike heterosexual matings. In a tabulation of homosexual and heterosexual activity in Kob antelopes, the number of male partners of each female is cataloged while the number of female partners is not. Likewise, articles on Crested Black Macaque and Brown Capuchin sexual behavior acknowledge the occurrence of female homosexual activity yet offer no statistics on this behavior, even though it is said to be more common (in Crested Blacks) than male homosexual activity (which, along with heterosexual behavior, is quantified). Finally, graphs of the frequency of various Giraffe activities in one study fail to provide adequate information on homosexual mounts: all same-sex interactions are lumped into the category of “sparring” (a form of fighting) without distinguishing actual sparring from necking (a ritualized, nonviolent form of play-fighting and affection) or mounting activity. 50