A friend of mine just asked me this, and it got me thinking. Obviously, there’s not going to be a canonical answer, as I don’t think Tolkien mentions sex at all. However, I suspect he would have considered homosexuality to be depraved, and the orcs certainly engaged in other depraved acts.
Thoughts, ideas, ridicule?
Since we never heard about female orcs, I had always assumed that orcs were sexless and therefore couldn’t be gay or straight.
I don’t think male orc sexuality could ever be described as anything but sickeningly violent, even by Klingon standards. The less said of it the better.
Female orc sexuality is something you also don’t want to think about if you are capable of empathy.
I’ve always assumed that female orcs were kept in pens, used for breeding purposes until used up, and then killed and/or eaten. Likewise any human (=Men, Elves, and Hobbits) unlucky enough to be captured by them. What happened to Finduilas was a mercy.
I’m sure Qadgop or someone else closer to his books than I will be along to cite that orcs are specifically said to reproduce after the fashion of the Children of Iluvatar.
Of course. When Sauron’s orcs of the Red Eye combined with Saruman’s Orcs of the White Hand, they created the Orcs of the Pink Other Body Part, and it was inevitable.
From Wikipedia (so take that for what it’s worth):
In the published Silmarillion it is stated that Orcs “breed after the manner of Elves and Men”
In 2002, one of Tolkien’s letters, omitted from The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, was auctioned off at Sotheby’s. In the letter, written in 1963 to a Mrs. Munsby, Tolkien confirmed that female Orcs did exist. He wrote:
“There must have been orc-women. But in stories that seldom if ever see the Orcs except as soldiers of armies in the service of the evil lords we naturally would not learn much about their lives. Not much was known.[20]”
I’ve always assumed that, like dwarves, outsiders couldn’t tell male and female apart. I assume they breed, they must come from somewhere. The pod-things in the films have nothing to do with the books. Skald, that’s how I would expect orc sexuality to be.
In answer to your friend’s question, though, I don’t doubt one male orc might orally or anally another, or a male Man/Dwarf/Elf/Hobbit held captive, in an assertion of dominance. I don’t think Tolkien would ever have spoken of such a thing, though.
That would make them hedonistic sadists rather than, necessarily, homosexual though. Which brings up the question of whether sexual attraction is necessary for orcs, or if the physical pleasure is all that matters. In which case, sexuality would be irrelevant.
Richard Pryor recounting a conversation between him and Gene Wilder while filming a movie on location in a prison:
“What do you think they’d do to us if we were in here, Rich?”
“Fuck us.”
“Well, I’m not homosexual!”
“Homosexual ain’t got nothin’ to do with it! They don’t fuck you 'cause you like it! They fuck you just to see that look on your face!”
Ridicule.
Good point, well made 
SFW Orc Sex
As Orcs were made from Elves, and Elves are gay, it only serves to reason that Orcs are merely butcher gay.
Thanks a lot. You just reminded me of the [del]second[/del] third most sickening fan-fic I ever read.
What were the first 2?
I always figured that orc sexuality was like Skald the Rhymer says, or just something grimly done to procreate the race instead of for pleasure, even brutal pleasure. In the latter case homosexuality wouldn’t exist among them since it serves no purpose for creatures that know neither companionship nor sensual pleasure.
I’d expect something like traumatic insemination.
[insert your own “goblin” pun here]
(((((2013 RESPONSE))))) LOL
I’m more than sure there is homosexual activity among some Orcs. However it isn’t the way we view homosexuality. There is no marriage, or gender role reversal (even in real life ancient times, such behavior was seen as abnormal even among two gay men).
Orcs are all about the strongest male or males breeding, and well in all species, beast and men; there are always weaker ones. I believe in Orc culture weak males aren’t allowed to breed (have a woman). However they’d still desire and have a need for sexual activity, and so more than likely probably have homosexual activity with other male Orcs not seen as “strong”. OR even be used just for sex by stronger male Orcs, who maybe doesn’t have the time to bone a female who may be preggy, or just been boned for breeding lol.
Whatever it may be… Orc culture sure is screwed up.
you heard it here, first, folks