Animal Sexuality Not As an Accident But Part of "The Queer Planet"

 

By Jo Yurcaba/NBC

Giraffes are “super queer,” at least according to one scientist in a new documentary about the diversity of animal sexuality. 

“Queer Planet,” which debuts June 6 on Peacock, NBC’s streaming network, features gay penguins, lion “bromances” and lesbian primates, among many other animals that don’t have strictly heterosexual interactions. More than 1,500 species have been shown to engage in queer behaviors, according to the 90-minute documentary. 

“Everything you were taught as a kid is wrong,” Bradley Trevor Greive, an Australian author and wildlife

 The documentary, which is narrated by actor Andrew Rannells (“Girls5eva”), details how groups of male lions have long formed “bromances” with other male lions, which include cuddling and sometimes mounting each other, and the sexual promiscuity of pansexual bonobo monkeys, who have sex with other bonobos regardless of gender.

“Animals that have a lot of sex tend to have less war,” Greive says in the documentary. “I don’t know how that extrapolates to human society, but, to be honest, we should all probably get laid a little more than we do.”

Queer relationships have long been observed in animals and have drawn international attention. Gay male penguin couples in zoos across the world have repeatedly cared for and hatched eggs in cases where foster parents were needed. In February, researchers also captured two male humpback whales having sex, in what the researchers said was the first time the species was documented exhibiting sexual activity. The whales study they released along with the photographs noted that same-sex sexual activity has also been observed in Amazon river dolphins, walruses and gray seals.

 However, not everyone was looking forward to the lion bromances. Conservative news websites and personalities on social media criticized the documentary, with one X user accusing it of pushing a “satanic gay agenda.” 

Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren also criticized the science behind the documentary, writing on X, “If animals were indeed gay, there would be no more animals. Just basic science there.”

Conservative sports website OutKick, which is owned by the Fox Corporation, said the documentary makes NBC “the odds-on favorite to take home the ‘trying too hard to prove they support the LGBTQ community’ crown next month.” The article, published last month, appeared to be taking a swipe at LGBTQ Pride Month, which is celebrated every June. 

Christine Wilkinson, a wildlife ecologist featured in the documentary, also wrote last month on X that conservative criticshad spammed “Queer Planet” with one-star reviews on the entertainment and review website IMDb. As of publication, the negative reviews appeared to have been removed.

In the documentary, Wilkinson says queer and transgender people have been treated by other humans as being “unnatural” or “against nature.” However, “Queer Planet” suggests otherwise: that nature has always been queer.