# Has homosexual behavior ever been observed in invertebrates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712 "2014-02-19T16:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/21 "2014-03-04T21:39:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Bugs not gay, just confused.](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131021131009.htm) It’s just a phase they’re going through. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/22 "2014-03-05T07:40:12Z")
When I first saw this thread title I mistook “invertebrates” for “introverts.” :o ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/23 "2014-03-07T21:55:44Z")
“So, daddy, that one is a daddy-long-legs and that one is a mommy-long-legs?” “No dear, they are both daddy-long-legs.” SPLAT! “We’re not having any of that sort of thing going on here!” ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/24 "2014-03-08T05:07:09Z")
Didn’t we already go through this with ladybugs? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/25 "2014-03-09T00:46:06Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > One of my exes was rather spineless . . . . . . . . . She danced just like her back had no bones. IIRC, in addition to hermaphrodites , some species begin as female and change to male later in their life. ---
**Author:** ![Questioning\_more](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7bcc69/32.png) [@Questioning\_more](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Questioning_more)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/26 "2014-03-09T00:56:48Z")
How do we know that animals are gay not just horny? 🙂 This is a serious question. Has homosexuality (partnership male to male) ever been observed? I find it intelectually dishonest to equate a male Penguin shagging a male Penguin to homosexuality. After all… Prison Rape! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/27 "2014-03-09T01:12:57Z")
> [@Questioning\_more](#): > > How do we know that animals are gay not just horny? 🙂 > > This is a serious question. Has homosexuality (partnership male to male) ever been observed? > I find it intelectually dishonest to equate a male Penguin shagging a male Penguin to homosexuality. > > After all… > > Prison Rape! In the case of the “gay” penguins who were in the news a while back, AIUI the two males did appear to have formed a pair bond, much as male and female penguins normally do. It was not just sex (if, indeed, it was sex at all), let alone rape. Of course it was in the stressful situation of a zoo, so this does not tell us with any reliability whether this really ever occurs in nature. ---
**Author:** ![Questioning\_more](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7bcc69/32.png) [@Questioning\_more](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Questioning_more)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/28 "2014-03-09T01:14:25Z")
Many of the cases shown as homosexuality in articles and documentaries are mostly just shaggings seen in nature. I don’t know about this Penguin case. Got a report I can read? ---
**Author:** ![tazmanian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@tazmanian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tazmanian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/29 "2014-03-10T21:25:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Many of the cases shown as homosexuality in articles and documentaries are mostly just shaggings seen in nature. I don’t know about this Penguin case. Got a report I can read? [Scientific American: Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bisexual-species/) Trevor ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/30 "2014-03-11T03:41:13Z")
> [@Questioning\_more](#): > > How do we know that animals are gay not just horny? 🙂 > … > I find it intelectually dishonest to equate a male Penguin shagging a male Penguin to homosexuality. > [@Questioning\_more](#): > > Many of the cases shown as homosexuality in articles and documentaries are mostly just shaggings seen in nature. So, according to you, it is not ‘real’ homosexual sex if they enjoy it? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/31 "2014-03-13T23:48:21Z")
> [@Questioning\_more](#): > > I find it intelectually dishonest to equate a male Penguin shagging a male Penguin to homosexuality. Why, exactly? If a male penguin shags a female penguin is it intellectually dishonest to equate that with heterosexuality? Plenty of _humans_ have sex with other humans that appears to be just shagging (at least if observed from similar intellectual distance as when observing penguins). I do see the point that it’s tricky to equate human and non-human sexuality, but that applies across the board (IMO), not just in the case of homosexuality. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712/32 "2014-03-14T14:32:32Z")
> [@Questioning\_more](#): > > I find it intelectually dishonest to equate a male Penguin shagging a male Penguin to homosexuality. But that IS homosexuality, by definition. It’s intellectually dishonest to say otherwise. > [@](#): > > After all… > > Prison Rape! Prison rape is also homosexuality (though not by choice of the victim). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-homosexual-behavior-ever-been-observed-in-invertebrates/681712.md?page=1)