Conservative author James Dobson, noted for his strong stance against what he calls "the gay rights agenda," once asked, rhetorically, why it is that, with thousands of years of animal domestication, and the great increase in modern times of scientists in the field, and wildlife photography, male-on-male sexual penetration had never been documented? Conversely, Bruce Bagemihl, author of _Biological Exuberance_, documented extensive and varied occurrences of homosexual behavior in animals - including male-on-male penetration in three species: the American bison (Bison bison), the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), and the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). His coverage of bighorn sheep was particularly revealing, as he documented, first, the reluctance of the homophobic biologist to reveal his findings, the same scientist's subsequent realization that, yes, he really was seeing what it looked like he was seeing, and finally, the pervasiveness of male homosexuality in the bighorn sheep. As Bagemihl points out, bighorn rams mate with ewes only during a brief, defined mating season, but outside that mating season, they constantly mate with other rams.

In the human homosexual community, there is a term: heteronomative. It means that because heterosexual humans are by far the majority (approximately 90%), their ways of thinking are defined as "normal." Thus, even in biology, there is an assumption that heterosexuality is normal for animals, and when an animal exhibits homosexual behavior, this is an exception to the norm which must be specifically explained. Classic Darwinian theory does tend to support this, with its emphasis on reproduction as the end goal. (Likewise, many religious conservatives also consider reproduction as the sole purpose for sex in the marriage.)

The problem with heteronormative explanations for homosexual behavior in animals is that they discount a fact of human biology. Our emotions, including love, are controlled by the same chemical compounds in the brain as those of animals. Serotonin, for example, causes behaviors in animals which, in humans, would indicate a particular mood. Serotonin in humans causes that same mood. In our zeal to avoid anthropomorphizing, we too easily discount this fact. If animals and humans have the same processes of brain chemistry, it is quite reasonable to say they experience the same moods and feelings.

Thus, when we see a pair of swans, for example, forming a pair bond prior to nesting, we can

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