April 26 is Lesbian Awareness Day. Its objective is to make visible the role played by lesbians in society, promoting positive social references for the elimination of prejudice and homophobia.
In this sense, and within the study of nature, Rachel Carson stands out, a marine biologist and conservationist, and a pioneer in promoting environmental awareness . Already in 1962 it began to inform the general public about the impacts that certain pesticides caused to the environment. His work, Silent Spring , is considered the first informative treatise on environmental impact.
Another of her legacies can be found between the pages of the book Always Rachel , published by Martha Freeman, granddaughter of Dorothy Freeman. Dorothy was a colleague of Rachel with whom she communicated frequently, through an exchange of letters in which they recounted their scientific investigations. And next to each scientific letter and, in secret, a love letter was also hidden. Dorothy was a married woman and her husband must not know.
To avoid being victims of homophobia, Rachel and Dorothy lived their love story in secret . It does not surprise anyone that this story of forbidden loves by retrograde ideologies repeats itself. That homophobia is established in Western societies to the point of forming part of the cultural fabric, in the same way as machismo or racism. One of the arguments most used by homophobic people is that homosexuality “is not natural.” Although this argument has no value , since something is not good or bad because it is natural or artificial —the device from which this article is displayed is not natural either, and there is nothing wrong with it—, the sentence is objectively false ; There are many animal species that, in a completely natural way, exhibit lesbian behavior. As always, very representative cases will be presented, although the real list is much longer.
red rat kangaroo
Homosexual behavior between animals is observed in both sexes, and in cases where only one is present, it is usually the male.
The red rat kangaroo ( Aepyprymnus rufescens ) is, in this sense, exceptional, since homosexual behavior is only present —as far as we know— in females.
Courtship and mounting usually take place between them , following behavioral patterns equal to those observed in heterosexual contexts. The interaction usually begins with one of the females sniffing the genitals and the opening of the pouch of the other. The female active in courtship then exhibits a clear sexual arousal, which she shows to her partner with sinuous movements of her tail.
Of course, for courtship to be successful, the receiving female must accept the encounter. Sometimes it reacts with hostility, rejecting the interested party, but when this happens, she insists, drumming the ground with her paw. If, then, she accepts, mounting takes place in a position similar to that of a male with a female, rubbing the genitals.
gray gull
Among gray-haired gulls ( Larus canus ) lesbianism is widespread. In some colonies, up to two-thirds of the females mate homosexually. In this case, the relationship is not limited to sexual expression, but extends to all behaviors related to social organization , except at the time of reproduction.
Gray Gull pairs are very long-lived ; they can last up to twelve years and rarely break. When the mating season arrives, some female gulls show bisexual behavior, performing threesomes where the male mates with two females already paired with each other, being able to fertilize both in a menage a troix de gulls. Generally, the male is later expelled, although, on occasions, the trio remains over time.
In this way, the two seagulls of the pair build their nest together, incubate the eggs and , if there are offspring, the two females also share the surveillance, protection and care of the chicks .
spotted hyena
Female spotted hyenas ( Crocuta crocuta ) have false penises and scrotums strikingly similar to those of males, so when observing sexual behaviors between them, it is difficult to know exactly who is doing what.
However, when we analyze them carefully, we discover that we are again dealing with a species in which the only homosexual relationships that have been observed are between females . They are the ones who have the absolute dominance of the herd, and with some frequency, some mount others in a behavior very similar to that of heterosexual copulation.
Since the female has a modified penis-shaped clitoris that can erect like a male’s, clitoral penetration is perfectly possible . Whether by anal or succeeding in the difficult task of penetrating genitally, this is probably one of the few species in which a female can penetrate another using her sexual apparatus.
This article is dedicated to the memory of Rachel Carson.
REFERENCES:
Bagemihl, B. 1999. Biological exuberance: animal homosexuality and natural diversity . St. Martin’s Press.Carson, R. et al. 1995. Always, Rachel: the letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952-1964 . Beacon Press.Carson, R. 2002. Silent spring (40th anniversary ed., 1st Mariner Books ed.).Houghton Mifflin.
