But valentines are only supposed to be between boys and girls!
These were the words that rolled off my oldest son's lips. It's funny, but Thing #1 seems to be deciding these days he is heterosexual.
His father is quite alarmed that I made this observation impassively, diagnostically. Well, I do look at pregnancy, mothering and the whole parenting thing as one big human Wild Kingdom experience. It's like I am looking at animals in the zoo but I am one of them.
And let me tell you, there's a couple of boys that by their choices are really hell bent on liking Peter and Paul waaaay more than Mary. It really is amazing to see, how some of us are just, well, gay from the day we were born. I think it's beautiful.
This, of course, takes me to the subject of our gayest of all New Yorkers, the penguins at various of our zoos. There's Squawk and Milou, Georgey and Mickey. Then there's the most controversial couple of the bunch, the then closeted bi-sexual Roy and the now forlorn and broken hearted Silo.
Roy and Silo became notorious during the 2004 election campaign as the poster boys for the equal gay rights amendment. They even have a children's book based on their love and parenting story. Then in 2005 Roy caught the eye of a homewrecker. After refusing for 6 years to mate with anybody else but Silo (females included) AND raising a chick with him, Roy walks out on him and starts building a nest for a hussy called Scrappy. Weirdest part of the story? Tango, their chick, is one half of a lesbian couple. Her mate's name is Tazuni.
So we talked about the gay penguins this morning; about how love knows no bounds. I reminded him of his friends two moms, of some of our friends (and some of his favorite people) who are gay and lesbian.
His answer? "Oh. Right. I totally forgot."
"You see, so boys can send valentines to other boys."
"I know, but mommy ... can I give my valentines to a girl?"
"Yes honey, it's your choice."
"Great."
Next month, they'll be reporting about their homeschooling classes at Central Park and their experience with the gayest New Yorkers of all, the zoo's penguins.
Happy Valentine's Day y'all.
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Central Park | Gender | GLBT / Gay, Lesbian, BiSexual, Transgender | Identity | Life | Parenting | Parks and Recreation | Zoo
Funny thing about homosexuality...
I don't know if they still do it, but many who oppose homosexuality used to call it "unnatural." I don't know what they mean by "unnatural" but as a biologist I can tell you that homosexuality is quite common in animals. Perhaps, most properly, it is bisexuality that is common. Something that is common in nature doesn't really sound "unnatural" to me.
Perhaps the most apropos example is the Bonobo. Also called the "pygmy chimp," the Bonobo is one of our closest evolutionary cousins. Based on some definitions (e.g. Jered Diamond), humans are merely a third species of chimpanzee, siblings to the common Chimp and the Bonobo.
Now the thing about the Bonobo is that almost all aspects of their society revolve around sex. Social bonds, hierarchy, everything involves sex. They exchange food for sex. They diffuse aggression with sex. They make new social ties through sex. They re-enforce EXISTING social ties with sex. Hell, they may be the randiest species on earth. The key thing is that ALL social ties are expressed sexually, which means homossexual sex is common. There is nothing moral or immoral about any of this. This is simply how the Bonobo species evolved. It's natural. Of course this example of how natural sex, including homosexual sex, is not likey to survive much longer, since Bonobos are extremely endangered and poorly protected. Since they aren't as well known as their more aggressive, slightly less randy siblings, the common chimp, the Bonobo gets far less protection from hunting and habitat destruction than the common Chimp does from groups like the Jane Goodall Institute.
So those penguins do not have to be embarassed by their bisexuality. It is quite natural, and quite common, in the animal kingdom. If right wingers want to argue against it on religious grounds, they have every right. But they are wrong if they consider it somehow "unnatural." Whatever THAT means.