IMPORTANT QUESTION: Genetics, how about it? - Homosexuality (Jul/14/2005 )

Homo sexual behavior has also been identified in other primate species (i.e. japonese monkies).

In the case of the japonese monkies (I saw this on the Discovery Channel), the female homosexual behavior was used to keep the males attention! WOW!

The interesting thing was this behavior was not seen toward family related monkies.


Other than primates I'm have not seen any other reports (limited searching) on homosexual behavior. So I am now wondering if this is a trait structly related to primates species.

Not just primates. nearly 500 species identified (that was back in 1999) I am sure the figure is higher now. see http://www.borngayprocon.org/pop/specieslist.htm for list

Yes but surely gay behaviour in humans and primates is very different to what we would classify as gay behaviour in some of these species.

For example a fruit fly (it's on the list) becoming confused and trying to mate with another fly of the same sex, or somehow interpreting pheromones, signals (or whatever fruit fly use to attract a mate) in the wrong way is very different to people who know exactly whats going on.

I dont think i explained that very well but i hope you catch my drift.

Not like I have "done the experiment" and shown anything of the sort, but it makes perfect sense to me that there would be a 'gay gene' or 'gay genotype' to support a gay phenotype; did you see the recent published work on sexual pheromone responses that was conducted on populations of differing sexual orientation? I do not recall the journal, but it was written up in the local paper last spring and the work was quite interesting.

Another thing to consider: just because there is a universal drive to reproduce does not mean that there is no 'gay gene'; genotypes that are contrary to healthy reproduction by the individual certainly exist in the human population and occur with predictable statistical frequency. This would logically lead one to believe that homosexual behavior would exist with some frequency across the animal kingdom as well; although perhaps not as prevalent if population control is a factor. The first responder's point about population control is quite good; perhaps this is a natural selection approach to overpopulation and we will see a higher prevalence of a 'homosexual genotype' and phenotype in the generations to come.

interesting topic....