Do animals have sexual preferences?

Uh, animals other than humans really do have homosexual sex, if that’s what you’re asking.

@Ivan: No, I was asking of animals can really have sexual preferences for the same sex, or if its just a projection of what we as a society would (maybe) like to see?

Only human beings understand the concept of “preference”. Other animals act upon some other imperative.

animals prefer to have sex.

What exactly do you mean by preference? Like are some repulsed by the opposite sex, or do they like being spanked, or what?

I’m always slightly amused when people just deny animals have, for instance, preferences. It’s pretty well documented that many do have preferences, not just for sexual partners but friends, foods, etc. Corvids recognize human faces and remember details about individuals, prefering some to others.

Pigeons are given as the usual example of documented species with homosexuals common in the population. Homosexual pigeons will mate for life, and often adopt orphaned babies.

Yes.

I think they do.

@incendiary_dan : aww, the fact that they adopt orphaned birds is super cute.

Our two female rabbits turned lesbian. Seriously. They tried to copulate.

that’s sooo hot ^^

“Preference” is a weird word for homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom. Be assured though, many species engage in homosexual acts. Constantly. In some species, such as bison and giraffes, the vast majority of all sexual acts are homosexual.

Modern understandings of this behavior point to several factors, just like in humans. Some animals just have high sex drives and aren’t burdened with puritanical busy bodies telling them that they can’t have fun, so they just do it. In other species, the dominance/submission roles between males support group dynamics are a necessary part of overall group survival. Some species have no homosexuality, some have only male/male or female/female, and some have both.

Homosexuality in young chimpanzees is so prevalent that some researches have gone as far as to suggest that chimps go through a homosexual “phase.” To chimps, homosexual acts serve some developmental role.

And bonobos, don’t get me started about how they use all forms of sex to support group cohesion.

So yes, there are animals that engage in homosexual acts, and there are animals that partner for life with members of the same sex for life. There isn’t one single way of looking at it, just like in human homosexuality. Nature? Nurture? Both, really.

oh, @mattbrowne, “turning lesbian” is not the preferred nomenclature. I’m pretty sure they were just “lezzing out.”

@Smashley . . . funniest thing i’ve read today. thank you.