Sea Life/Twitter/ShutterstockWhile anti-LGBTQ+ people have long argued homosexuality is unnatural, a new study could go some way to disprove that theory.
The ancient ancestors of all modern animals, including humans, could have been bisexual and engaged in homosexual acts, despite previous beliefs they were purely heterosexual, a new study has confirmed.
Research conducted by Yale University now suggests homosexuality was probably widespread within animal behaviour from the very beginning.
Zoological Society of LondonThis comes after researchers studied the sexual behaviour of more than 1,500 different animal species, including cows, snakes, monkeys and crabs, to find out why homosexuality persists in these creatures ‘despite not having an obvious evolutionary benefit’.
Now, researchers believe homosexuality was part of our earliest DNA and therefore an entirely natural part of who we are.
Researcher Julia Monk wrote:
If any trait other than homosexuality had been observed in such a diverse array of species it would be widely accepted as being part of our ancestral DNA rather than something that evolved later.
The idea that heterosexuality has always been the norm in society has always prevented us from accepting the notion that being bisexual could have been a thing from our pasts.
PexelsTherefore, scientists have been working to solve the Darwinian paradox, which is why do animals practice same-sex sexual activity when it has no obvious evolutionary benefit and could lead to extinction if all members of species practice it?
And now Yale University researchers believe they have the answer. They believe our earliest animals ancestors practised ‘indiscriminate sexual behaviours directed towards all sexes’, rather than purely heterosexual sex.
Monk continued to explain:
By shifting the lens through which we study animal sexual behaviour, we can more fruitfully examine the evolutionary history of diverse sexual strategies.
The study into same-sex sexual behaviour meant the team looked at anything that would not lead to procreating. This included individuals of the same sex, different species, dead bodies, inanimate objects and self-stimulation.
PexelsMonk believes there is now no need to explain homosexuality’s origins because it has always been there. They believe it is likely a ‘derived trait’ that arose out of the bisexual nature of ancestor species.
So, there we have it: same-sex relationships are just as natural as heterosexual ones.
Try and argue with that, homophobes.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.