450 animal species gaily indulge in homosexual behaviour
By Deborah Smith, Science Editor


Koalas do it. Wallabies do it. Even penguins and dolphins in the sea do it. They all engage in homosexual activity.

Dr Geoff MacFarlane, a lecturer in biological sciences at the University of Newcastle, said it had been argued that sexual behaviour between members of the same sex was against the laws of nature, and unusual or deviant in wild animals. But recent scientific evidence "forcefully demolishes these assumptions ".

Dr MacFarlane, who will give a public lecture on the topic tomorrow in Sydney, said more than 450 species worldwide had been identified as exhibiting some homosexual behaviour. This included 25 mammal and 45 bird species from Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica.

The most frequent occurrence was in bonobos, or pygmy chimpanzees. About 50 per cent of their sexual encounters were between the same sex, he wrote in an article with a colleague, Dr Kevin Markwell, published in the journal Nature Australia.


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[lgbt-india] International News #531 - 28 June 2004
Panamanian gays seek partner rights
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The gay-rights group Association of New Men and Women of Panama is
collecting signatures to place a same-sex partnership bill before the
nation's Legislative Assembly.

The organization plans to collect four times the required 500 signatures
and will submit the proposal on Sept. 1, as the newly elected president
and legislators come into office.