There are still people out there who think that being gay is “unnatural,” but they couldn’t be more wrong. Same-sex behavior, from co-parenting to mate-attraction behavior to sex, is incredibly common in the animal world. It’s been observed in more than 1,500 animal species, from insects and other invertebrates, right up the evolutionary ladder to primates and us.
For the most part, we’re not sure why—what evolutionary advantage does homosexual coupling provide to dolphins (other than happier dolphins)? But the fact is, same-sex activity is as natural as anything in the animal kingdom. What’s really unnatural is that so many people still assume animals adhere to the “moral” code of a small number of humans—so if you happen to run into anyone like that, point them to this list of the 11 most gay animals on earth.