Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity

Thus, while homosexuality among animals is sometimes characterized by innovative or exceptional behaviors not found in heterosexual interactions, the opposite situation is equally, if not more, prevalent. It seems, then, that neither virtuosity nor mundanity of sexual expression are exclusive to either homosexual or heterosexual contexts. This is really not surprising: as we have already seen, a hallmark of sexual (and related) behaviors in animals is the tremendous range of variation found between species as well as among different individuals. For just about any pattern or trend that can be discerned, one that is contradictory or equivocal can be found. It stands to reason, then, that something like “sexual technique” would exhibit a similar range of diversity. And although Masters and Johnson may have found a greater level of technical proficiency in sex among some homosexual couples, this is probably an overly simplistic generalization even among people. A wider study sample that includes extensive cross-cultural information, as well as closer attention to age, gender and class differences, social contexts, and other factors, would likely reveal that (once again) human beings are much more like other species in this regard.

Primate (Homo)Sexuality and the Origins of Culture

Homosexuality is part of our evolutionary heritage as primates: anyone looking at the prevalence and elaboration of homosexual behavior among our closest relatives in the animal kingdom will be led, eventually, to this conclusion. In fact, primatologist Paul L. Vasey traces the occurrence of homosexuality in primates back to at least the Oligocene epoch, 24-37 million years ago (based on its distribution and characteristics among contemporary primates).⁴⁹ Some of the most organized and developed forms of homosexuality among animals can be found in the more than 30 species of monkeys and apes where this behavior occurs. Bonobos, for instance, engage in both male and female homosexual interactions with disarming frequency and enthusiasm, and they have also developed many unique forms of sexual expression, including a type of lesbian tribadism known as genito-genital rubbing. Similar elaborations of homosexual patterns are found among Stumptail Macaques, Gorillas, Hanuman Langurs, and many other monkey and ape species. In addition to highly developed systems of same-sex interaction and diverse sexual techniques, a number of other aspects of homosexual activity in primates are particularly salient. Among these are various forms of pair-bonding such as consortships, “favorite” partners, or sexual friendships; evidence for exclusive or preferential homosexual activity in some individuals (as discussed in the preceding section); female orgasm in monkeys and apes, in both homosexual and heterosexual contexts; female-centered or matrifocal societies, as well as male alliances and other groups of cooperating males in some species; and the wide range of nonreproductive heterosexual activities found in many primates.⁵⁰

In addition to being part of our evolutionary heritage, homosexuality is also part of our cultural heritage as primates—for same-sex activity in monkeys and apes offers us some startling examples of cultural traditions among animals. Although “culture” is something that we typically associate with human beings, many animals innovate behaviors and then pass them on from generation to generation through learning. Zoologists speak of this as “cultural” behavior in animals—or, if the activity is less well developed, as “precultural” or “protocultural” behavior. Animal cultural traditions are widespread and often highly complex, occurring in many different kinds of species and involving behaviors as diverse as foraging and hunting techniques, communication patterns and song dialects, forms of social organization, response to predators, characteristics and locations of home sites and shelters, and migration patterns.⁵¹ Perhaps the most famous example of animal cultural behavior concerns food-gathering techniques in wild Japanese Macaques: in the mid-1950s, one female invented several ways of accessing novel food items (introduced by investigators), including sweet-potato washing, peanut digging, and “placer mining” for wheat. Within ten years 90 percent of all troop members had acquired these habits, which were being learned spontaneously by younger animals and passed on to subsequent generations.