Anyone who grew up in the church and listened to stories of the ancient biblical times, most likely never heard anything positive about homosexuality even though the pews and choir was filled with homos. It was taught that something so “unnatural and abominable” didn’t occur in nature and a sin that was restricted to man.
Around age 15, I remember seeing a National Geographic special about the great apes. In one segment they highlighted Bonobo Chimps; a species of great apes in Africa. I was fascinated to learn Bonobos are exclusively bisexual.
Sexual intercourse with Bonobos is used as a greeting, a means of forming social bonds, a means of conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconciliation. Bonobos have been observed having face-to-face genital sex, tongue kissing, oral sex along with regular sex for breeding. Bonobos do not form permanent monogamous sexual relationships with individual partners. They also do not seem to discriminate in their sexual behavior by sex or age. When Bonobos discover a new food source or feeding ground, the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sexual activity, presumably decreasing tension and encouraging peaceful feeding.
This was all fascinating to my teenage mind because up until this point I heard that homosexuality does not occur in nature and was limited only to humans.
Since then science has shown us that homosexuality and bisexuality exist is hundreds of animals including primates, big cats, birds, giraffes, elephants, dolphins, insects…the list goes on.
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Male African and Asian elephants usually live away from the general matriarchal herd and some form bisexual companionships that can last for years which include the males mounting one another or practicing simulated mating.
I was also shocked to learn that there are plenty of male mammals that actually practice homosexual anal intercourse, like bottlenose dolphins and American bison. Some mammals like male giraffes will actually engage in anal intercourse until climax.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with homosexuality. Once I understood this, I almost felt like I had been fooled for all those years.
The scale and spectrum of sexuality is vast and broad. I find it intriguing that the many present minds and collective thoughts of societies around the world don’t realize their negative view towards homosexuality is only a couple hundred years old at the most. Not to say that there were not ancient societies that had disapproving attitudes towards same sex coupling but for the majority of the ancient civilized world…this was an open non-issue. The word homosexual didn’t even exist in print until the late 1860’s.
I looked to past cultures and attitudes in ancient Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Pacific regions, Europe and North America concerning homosexuality. It helped me to love and understand my sexuality today. Researching and learning about nature and the animal kingdom, helped me understand my sexual desires are not only normal but natural.
If you are an individual reading this and you are struggling with your sexual identity and sexuality; ask yourself why is there a struggle? There is nothing unusual about homosexuality. It has existed for thousands if not tens of thousands of years and is quite regular and ordinary.
Your sexual existence is as ingrained in mankind’s history as was looking to the night sky and stars for guidance and direction. It has existed and does exist on every continent and in animal and human kind alike.
There is absolutely nothing unnatural about your homosexuality or bisexuality. It is not some unnatural or abominable thing in which modern society has created it to be. Homosexuality is a natural desire that will continue to prevail as long as we thrive on planet earth. We all can gain by releasing the struggle, accepting this truth and loving ourselves.
If you are interested in learning more about homosexuality in the animal kingdom, there is a great documentary on the subject titled Out in Nature: Homosexual Behavior in the Animal Kingdom. You can view it here.
Good stuff. I discovered this probably around the same period you did. Crazy because about a week ago I’d been chatting with a dude about this very subject. He seemed like the type of dude that I would have taken the time to get to know. But the red flag for me was when he expressed that he felt homosexuality was wrong…even though he partakes in it. Not sure if he was raised in the church (he did state that one of his top three books was the Bible), but he argued many points that are consistent with bible thumpers. I brought up the point that homosexuality existed in nature and he didn’t really have a rebuttal for that. Thanks for posting this. Hopefully he’ll eventually get around to reading this article so it can give him some insight.
Human sexuality is pretty broad and more complex than most of allow ourselves to consider and accept. The animals in the wild have long given us clues about our roots (comparative psychology). While the rules that govern man are different than those that govern other animals, this is a great reiteration of one of the many ways that the animal kingdom has always interacted with each other – irrespective of any theological morality arguments.