What Do You Mean Giraffes Aren’t Gay?!
Of all the animals he could have picked, he picked the giraffe. Florida Republican congressional candidate Rod Joseph told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board on 8 July that nobody is born gay, then called the animal kingdom as his witness.
Bad move. Giraffes are one of the most same-sex-active species ever documented, with up to 94 per cent of observed mounting happening between two males.
He Said The Quiet Part, Then Went On Safari
“You cannot be born gay. That’s impossible biologically. Sexual preference from the Roman Empire to date, it’s always a preference,”
Joseph said, according to the Sun-Sentinel. He went on to suggest LGBTQIA+ people are influenced into it rather than born that way.
Then came the wildlife documentary portion of the interview.
“Look at the natural habitat. You never see a lion that mate(s) with a male lion for life. You never see a giraffe, a male giraffe, that mate(s) with a giraffe…. Myself right now saying I am a giraffe, that doesn’t mean it’s true,” he said.
Giraffes Are The Worst Possible Example
Biologist Bruce Bagemihl’s Biological Exuberance (1999) remains the standard reference on animal homosexuality, and the giraffe section is a lot. One study he cites found up to 94 per cent of observed mounting incidents took place between two males. Only one per cent happened between two females. At any given moment, roughly one in twenty male giraffes is necking with another male.
Ever seen two male giraffes neck? It is not a fight. They entwine, they caress, they court, and it escalates. Bagemihl records that this happens more often than straight mating does. Not equally. More often.
The Lions Were No Help Either
Same-sex mounting turns up in male lion coalitions too, though researchers argue about what it means. When photos of two males going at it in Botswana went viral in 2016, lion biologist Craig Packer of the University of Minnesota told Live Science it looked more like dominance and affection than romance. Fine. Still not the heterosexual character reference Joseph was hoping for.
Nature Has Been At This For A While
Same-sex behaviour has been recorded in more than 1,500 species, a figure popularised by the University of Oslo’s Natural History Museum in its 2006 exhibition “Against Nature?” Its academic advisor, Petter Bøckman, told Audubon: “People always come up with the argument that homosexuality is somehow against nature. And that’s not true.”
Then there are the penguins. Sphen and Magic, the gentoo pair at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, raised two chicks together. When Sphen died in August 2024, Magic sang to him and the colony sang back.
Bryan Callen Got There Before The Politicians
We covered comedian Bryan Callen’s giraffe bit back in July 2024. Callen reckons giraffes are “too fabulous” to have evolved naturally and describes them as “a very gay camel” that his friend Stan designed after deciding the original needed work. Turns out the comedian did more research than the candidate.
One last thing. The seat Joseph is chasing takes in Wilton Manors, one of the gayest spots in the United States. Someone hand this man a pamphlet.
