It sounds like the log line for the next John Waters movie -- Gay flamingos pick up chick. "A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a British conservation organization said Monday," reports the APF. Of course, Andrew Sullivan was one of the early bloggers to cover the story.
I admit to almost invincible ignorance when it comes to animal homosexuality. I mean, I've known lots of gay men and a few lesbians over the years (sure, I've know even more than I know about -- I'm just talking about the ones I knew were homosexual), but aside from these suspiciously recent press reports of allegedly homosexual behavior in animals, this is not a topic I've paid much attention to since I stopped watching the adventures of Yogi Bear and Booboo.
If, in fact, Carlos and Fernando, the flamingos in question, are gay, then following Sullivan's lead I think this raises all sorts of interesting theological issues. I suppose, for example, homosexuality among non-humans could still be considered theologically "disordered" and thus contrary to the will of God. One would be hard pressed to call whatever occurs naturally to be unnatural, however, and the theological nexus between sin, original or otherwise, and free will would seem at the very least to be a bit strained. Indeed, I'm not sure it makes any sense whatever to talk of sinful animals. Yes, I know, the notion of sin among humans is problematic enough for many people, but we're just doing a bit of conceptual analysis here.
On the other hand or wing, as it were, when Carlos and Fernando are referred to as a "gay" couple, does this really mean what, well, what one assumes it means when we're talking about people? I mean, what sort of sex lives do "straight" birds have, for that matter?
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge near Bristol (a Wodehousean name if there ever was one) representative Jane Waghorn claims that gay flamingos are not uncommon. "If there aren't enough females or they don't hit it off with them, they will pair off with other males," she said.
Of course, if there aren't enough females in, say, prison... well, you know. So there's my question. Were Carlos and Fernando living the avian equivalent of La Cage aux folles these last six years or were they and are similar "gay" flamingo couples merely playing The Odd Couple?
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5 comments:
Covenant House.
It's worth noting that right now I'm reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray." I'm about a third of the way in, and while I haven't run across any scenes of open homosexuality, there sure are a lot of men in that book who are obsessed with their looks, love raving about how good their male friends look, and seem quite wrapped up in each other.
So, perhaps there's a trailer somewhere with a pink plastic flamingo that keeps aging, while in a nearby wetland a flamingo remains eternally young.
The story I read said that usually flamingos change partners every mating season, but that Carlos and Fernando have been together for six years.
Sounds like the real thing to me...
I'd recommend Biological Exuberance, by Bruce Bagemihl. It's a fascinating read, and sure ought to but the kaibosh on any "homosexuality is unnatural" arguments.
Thanks to all for the comments. I hasten to note I don't have an ax to grind on the topic of non-human homosexuality. As Mona wrote over at Unqualified Offerings, there's that whole gay penguin story from a while back to consider, too.
Still, we might want to distinguish between homosexuality as a disposition and homosexual behavior, the doctrine of revealed preferences aside for a moment. The thing is, I don't know how you go about determining the sexual orientation of an animal except by its behavior, and then all the situational counter-arguments kick in.
For that matter, I'm not a fan of the notion that how things are in nature lead necessarily to moral conclusions. The facts of nature are probative of some ethical questions (the reason I shouldn't slip a toxin into your food is that it is, as a purely contingent matter, a toxin), but hardly dispositive, so I don't know what moral work the sexual behavior of any animals under any conditions is supposed to do.
I suspect, however, that homosexual rights advocates are trying to make some moral mileage out of our avian friends just as certain ethicists, usually of a theological bent, try to make the "unnatural = immoral" case. I remain unpersuaded by both camps insofar as that is their agenda.
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