Why haven’t we been told? Homosexuality in animals

Homosexuality in animals has been known since Antiquity, but has only recently made it into mainstream science. The cause may be a lack of interest, distaste, fear of ridicule, or scientists fearing to lose their grants. The few scientists publishing papers on the topic, often made sure their own sexual preferences were known, directly or indirectly.
Some scientists have interpreted same-sex pairing as anything but sex. In a study of giraffes in Africa a researcher registered all cases where a male sniffed a female as “sexual interest” – while anal intercourse with ejaculation between males was registered as a form of ritualised fighting (“sparring”), despite the fact that 94% of all registered sexual activity in one area took place between males. Only recently has scientists started investigating homosexuality in animals in earnest.




The earliest known mention of animal homosexuality is found in a 2300 year old description of hyenas by Aristotle. Hyena clitoris and labia look like a penis and scrotum, and this made him believe all hyenas are male. Sex between the females is not uncommon, so Aristotle was right in describing them as homosexuals, only they where lesbians rather than gays!