Even the Sheep Are Gay

Posted on | January 3, 2006

There has been a lot of attention showered on Brokeback Mountain since the movie was released. Everyone on both sides of the fence on homosexuality has weighed in on this movie. But it seems that Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger may have had some co-stars also playing gay characters that no one was even aware of. One of the classic arguments conservatives have against homosexuals is that it does not occur in nature and that homosexuality is a choice. Besides the ability to literally manufacture gay rats, homosexuality in animals does indeed exists in nature without human intervention.

While figures of homosexuality in humans range from about 6-10%, Faye Flam over at the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that apparently about 8% of sheep are actually homosexuals as well. They are homosexual because the rams will exclusively mount other rams and ejaculate on their wool as anatomy does not allow for anal sex. This causes some problems for breeders.

The article is an interesting read as it also talks about the brain differences between heterosexual and homosexuals as well.

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