Celebrities cite animals that have sex with same gender to refute Manny Pacquiao’s comment

Penguins do it, male giraffes do it as well as lizards of the genus Teiidae. Those three animals were mentioned by a Yale Scientific Magazine article that Filipino Broadway star Lea Salonga tweeted to disprove claims by boxer Manny Pacquiao that same-sex relationship is wrong.

Salonga, the star of “Miss Saigon,” is just one of the celebrities who aired their disagreement with Pacquiao’s statement on same-sex marriage which created a social media storm on Tuesday. Besides Salonga, gay comedian Vice Ganda, lesbian singer Aiza Seguerra, and gay talk show hosts Boy Abunda and Jobert Sucaldito also spoke their piece.

Most of them said that they respect Manny’s stand on same-sex marriage but disagree that he has to state that members of the LGBT community who have sex with people of the same gender are worse than animals.

In the Yale paper cited by Salonga, Arash Fereydooni describes the mating ritual in Humboldt, King, Gentoo and Adelie penguins of the same gender which entwine their necks and vocalise to one another. For male giraffes, the homosexual behaviour is in the form of rubbing their necks against each other’s bodies while ignoring female giraffes. In the case of the Teiidae lizards, male members of the species could copulate with male or female lizards.

The article cites the study done by University of California, Riverside biologists Nathan W. Bailey and Marlene Zuk on the evolutionary consequences and implications of same-sex behaviour. The two found that female pairs increase fitness and provide superior care for offspring in the absence of males for the Laysan albatross. In many species, same-sex pairing confer certain evolutionary advantages such as alleviating the likelihood of divorce and stopping the pressure on opposite sex by providing more flexibility in forming partnerships that boost social bonds and reduces competition.

BBC cites the 20-year study by Paul Vasey of the University of Lethbridge in Alberta of macaques that in some population, homosexual behaviour among females is the norm. Females mount one another,, stimulates their genitals by rubbing it against each other and sit in a jockey-style position, Vasey points out. He believes the females were just seeking sexual pleasure, but it did not imply the female macaques were not interested in male monkeys.

But these species are likely bisexuals. The BBC report says that only two species have been observed to show a same-sex preference for life. One is the domestic sheep (Ovie aries) wherein 8 percent of the males prefer other males even if females are present. Neuroscientists found in 1994 that the homosexual male sheep has a smaller hypothalamus, the brain area that controls the release of sex hormones, compared to heterosexual male sheep.

The other species is humans, and they are busy debating on the issue of same-sex marriage. For his part, Pacquiao has apologised for comparing gays with animals but insisted on his opposition to same-sex marriage. Some of those who were offended by the boxer, despite his apology, are campaigning Filipino voters not to vote Pacquiao for a Senate seat on May 16.