Lead us not into temptation . . .

Have meddlesome humans started an Exodus movement for gay penguins?

Or is it a sexodus movement?

I don't know what to call it, but via Glenn Reynolds' link to this Reason article, I found yet another wicked attempt by mad scientists to interfere with nature:

A German zoo has imported four female penguins from Sweden in an effort to tempt its gay penguins to go straight.

The four Swedish females were dispatched to the Bremerhaven Zoo in Bremen after it was found that three of the zoo's five penguin pairs were homosexual.

Keepers at the zoo ordered DNA tests to be carried out on the penguins after they had been mating for years without producing any chicks.

It was only then they realised that six of the birds were living in homosexual partnerships.

Director Heike Kueck said that the zoo hoped to see some baby penguins in the coming months.

She said that the birds had been mating for years and one couple even adopted a stone that they protected like an egg.

Kueck said that the project has the support of the European Endangered Species Programme because the penguins, which are native to South America, are an endangered species.

A biologist will be on hand to monitor the experiment.

But introducing the Bremerhaven penguins to their new Swedish friends may not be as successful as hoped after earlier experiments revealed great difficulties in separating homosexual couples.

While gay penguins (as well as reparative therapy for homosexuality) are not new topics in this blog, I'm wondering why there's no hue and cry about this blatant anthropomorphic interventionism.

Aren't these Euroscientists mocking the laws of nature and of nature's god?

What would Leon Kass say?

UPDATE: It's probably worth pointing out that in my previous post on the subject, I neglected to provide a link to Bruce Bagemihl's Biological Exuberance. From the Amazon description:

Bagemihl begins with an overview of same-sex activity in animals, carefully defining courtship patterns, affectionate behaviors, sexual techniques, mating and pair-bonding, and same-sex parenting. He firmly dispels the prevailing notion that homosexuality is uniquely human and only occurs in "unnatural" circumstances. As far as the nature-versus-nurture argument--it's obviously both, he concludes. An overview of biologists' discomfort with their own observations of animal homosexuality over 200 years would be truly hilarious if it didn't reflect a tendency of humans (and only humans) to respond with aggression and hostility to same-sex behavior in our own species. In fact, Bagemihl reports, scientists have sometimes been afraid to report their observations for fear of recrimination from a hidebound (and homophobic) academia.
It's published by Stonewall Inn Editions. Damn! I'd been hoping it would be a Penguin Classic.....

posted by Eric on 02.09.05 at 12:45 PM





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Comments

Why isn't anybody writing about Lesbian cats? Anyway, speaking of temptation, I still have a bit more tweaking to do on this last post, add a couple links and such, and then Stephanie Estelle Xayananh will be filling in for me to write the next one.

"But introducing the Bremerhaven penguins to their new Swedish friends may not be as successful as hoped after earlier experiments revealed great difficulties in separating homosexual couples."

This is so tempting. There are so many friggin' jokes here... must... resist...

Harkonnendog   ·  February 9, 2005 02:59 PM

What would Leon Kass say? I'm so glad you asked...

"What about the changing mores of marriage, divorce, single parent families and sexual behavior? Do we applaud these changes? Do we want to contribute further to this confusion of thought, identity and practice?"

Uh, I'm guessing the answer is no. Some further deep thoughts...

"Our society is dangerously close to losing its grip on the meaning of some fundamental aspects of human existence."

That's from "Toward A More Natural Science", page 113.

Perhaps the penguins are under duress. Perhaps they have lost their grip (no thumbs y'know) on the meaning of some fundamental aspects of penguin existence.

J. Case   ·  February 9, 2005 07:05 PM

If the homosexual penguins are females then I feel bad for the hetero penguins being brought in to break them up. Been there, tried that, failed.

That movie Chasing Amy is bull%**t!!

Harkonnendog   ·  February 9, 2005 09:00 PM

Stephanie is still working on it. More than halfway done. Still gathering up quotes and links. Done with the Naturalists and the Jehovanists, now starting in on the Gnostics. Got to bring this file to a "tight and high" climax.

Don't worry. I'm not throwing in the sponge, nor the towel.

"But introducing the Bremerhaven penguins to their new Swedish friends may not be as successful as hoped after earlier experiments revealed great difficulties in separating homosexual couples."

Stand firm, gents. You let the hens in, and next thing you know, they're rearranging your kitchen cabinets, doing the ice floe over in French Country, and griping that you always wear the same, favorite dinner jacket when you go out.

Sean Kinsell   ·  February 10, 2005 05:55 AM

Well. No wonder they're facing extinction.

Was that in bad taste? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Persnickety   ·  February 10, 2005 10:53 AM


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