Discovering Same-Sex Behavior in the Animal Kingdom

Questioning persistent myths about same-sex behaviour in nature

Can we predict who we love from our genetics alone? For LGBT History Month in October, Dr. Kaylee Byers is joined by co-host Dr. Julia Monk to look at what our genes teach us about diverse forms of sexuality and identity. Starting by witnessing a pair of male penguins cozying up, our hosts join flippers to unearth research from naturalists who have recorded same-sex behaviour in the wild. Then they invite socio-geneticist Dr. Robbee Wedow to guide us through his own research, where he puts the question: "Is there a gay gene?" to the test.

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Highlights:

(00:30) A match made in pebbles

(07:15) Buried papers, Darwinian Paradoxes, and reframing same-sex behaviour

(20:27) Is there a Gay Gene? 'Damned if you do damned if you don't.'

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Learn-A-Long: https://bit.ly/3FNfz8C

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References:

Gay Penguins Klaus, Jones ‘rekindled their romance’ at Melbourne aquarium | New York Daily News

Nature is queer. Queer ecologists want us to learn from it. | Grist

Is nature Queer? | Out & About | CBC

Terra Nova notebooks describing penguin sexual behaviours acquired by the Museum | Natural History Museum

An alternative hypothesis for the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in animals | Nature Ecology & Evolution

Large-scale GWAS reveals insights into the genetic architecture of same-sex sexual behavior | Science

Many Genes Influence Same-Sex Sexuality, Not a Single ‘Gay Gene’ | The New York Times

No 'gay gene', but study finds genetic links to sexual behavior | Reuters

How Earnest Research Into Gay Genetics Went Wrong | Wired

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Credit:

Gentoo Penguin · Pygoscelis papua | xeno-canto

"No Gay Gene"-Born This Way Is A Lie Says GOP Lawmaker | Michael McIntee

Australian current affairs programme "The 7.30 Report" (1995) "Gay Brains" | The 7.30 Report

Nature or Nurture - Are People Born Gay? | Naked Science