There’s been some talk lately about a pair of male penguins at the Toronto Zoo (I KNEW Jorhan was a bad influence on my tuxedo-clad friends there in Canada!) Yes, Buddy and Pedro are gay. “So?” you might ask, “What’s the problem?”
It seems the pair of lovebirds are African Penguins, a genus of penguin that is on the endangered species list and the zookeepers want the males to … well, “perform.”
To that end the zoo is separating them during mating season in the hope that one or both will “copulate” with one of their female counterparts, thus helping to ensure the survival of the species. It isn’t a new concept; we humans just LOVE to tell others how to live their lives and as you might have guessed, protestors are crying “foul” over the idea that the two companions are being separated. The zoo’s curator of birds and invertebrates, Tom Mason, said he received “a call from someone claiming to represent a group called the Canadian Society for Gay Animals. (I swear, you cannot go anywhere without bumping into one of those evil homosexual advocacy groups.)
The zoo is attempting to downplay the pair’s social habits, claiming they “just need company.” “Buddy, who is twenty-one (21), had a female partner for 10 years and produced some offspring” while Pedro, 10, has yet to produce any [offspring]. Okay, so Buddy was confused for ten years, has now come out of the closet and is into twinks while Pedro is a confirmed bachelor who loves a good Daddy. Come on, you’ve got to find a little humor in that! (I wonder what a penguins’ leather scene looks like??? Just sayin’… LOL)
On a more serious note, they’re penguins! I can understand why we would find the prospect of somebody coming between two people who were in love and in a relationship upsetting. However, my heart just doesn’t bleed so much that I find the idea of separating two birds for a season in the hope we might convince one or both of them to “copulate their brains out” in order that they might help keep their species alive.
But Did You Hear?
Those nasty, evil homosexual advocacy groups must be having some success with their imaginary agendas. Not only are Buddy and Pedro gay, but so too are Roy and Silo of New York City’s Central Park Zoo. (NOW I know why I haven’t had any luck in finding myself a boyfriend; I’ve been looking in all the wrong places. I shoulda’ been going to the zoo all this time. ROFL)
Roy and Silo began “dating” in 1998, built a nest together the following year and then, in 2000, incubated an egg that another pair of penguins had fertilized and discarded until that egg hatched (“And Tango Makes Three”).
It’s TRUE, it’s ALL True!
Roy and Silo hatched themselves a plan … er, I mean daughter! She’s fast and loose, just like her fathers; nothing like that “respectable, committed heterosexual couple” who kicked her to the curb when she was nuthin’ but a helpless lil’ chick-to-be swirling around in a hard-shelled egg.
Authors Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell wrote about Roy, Silo and Tango (with illustrations by Henry Cole), only to find their book at the top of the Top Banned Books of the Year list for four years running. The book was banned from libraries, schools, etc. “more often than far more controversial books such as “The Catcher in the Rye” and “Mein Kampf.””
None of the other penguin families had a problem with Roy and Silo, or with their raising a daughter of their own.
Nope, oddly enough it’s only those [conservative], so-called “evolved” humans among our own species who cannot seem to understand the merits of teaching about love and that not all families are identical (but not necessarily any less loving).
Gives a person something to think about, doesn’t it?!
Blessings,
Michael
This particular post was written, tongue-in-cheek, as a humorous accounting of some true facts. I’m in no way trying to say penguins are the same as human beings (though one fact remains that there are gay couplings in both species). I hope you will enjoy the post and perhaps it may give you cause to make a few comparisons of your own. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to watch all three videos that are included within the body of the post. —Michael
As indicated in an earlier [blog] entry, I’ll continue to focus my thoughts on everything I am thankful for (which is quite a lot) and I refuse to allow the works of those whose actions are born of hate to have their desired effect on me. That does not mean I will ignore the tragedies that are left in the wake of their hatred, however. Bullying a child for any reason is wrong, whether the abuse comes from another child or an adult. Sadly, there is a lot of bullying that is originating from BOTH these days; most notably (at the moment), from those who are trying to secure the nomination for the Republican ticket in the upcoming presidential election and as well, from the uber-conservative “we’ve got a stick up our arse” State of Tennessee!
Namaste,