Free Republic

Joel Vasquez Rojas, the mayor of San Pedro Huamelula, married the reptile – dressed in a white gown – at the city hall and then shared a dance in front of packed party of local residents. According to local tradition, the crocodile is a princess whose marriage to the town mayor will bring in an abundance of seafood for fisherman on the Pacific coast. ‘As young people, this means a lot,’ said local resident Eduardo Zarate 'It’s the greatest treasure our ancestors have left us.’ For safety, the crocodile’s jaw was wired shut for the day. ‘It is my wish...

She fed him filet mignon and lobster tails. They shared cozy glasses of wine. They bathed and slept together. He tenderly brushed her hair. She gave him gifts and sweet kisses. He drew her pictures. But this was no ordinary affair of the heart. Sandra Herold was engaging in these loving acts with a 200-pound pet ape. Herold's human friends said they were always leery of the interspecies intimacy. < snip > "Until you've . . . eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp," she said.

From male killer whales that ride the dorsal fin of another male to female bonobos that rub their genitals together, the animal kingdom tolerates all kinds of lifestyles. A first-ever museum display, "Against Nature?," which opened last month at the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum in Norway, presents 51 species of animals exhibiting homosexuality. "Homosexuality has been observed in more than 1,500 species, and the phenomenon has been well described for 500 of them," said Petter Bockman, project coordinator of the exhibition. The idea, however, is rarely discussed in the scientific community and is often dismissed as unnatural because...

Sexuality expert says animals can be homosexual The speaker elaborated on a concept she called ‘nature culture’ in her talk on animal sexuality The reasons and causes for homosexuality should no longer be viewed only in terms of the long-debated nature-versus-nurture argument, a women’s studies and sexuality expert told a small group in Gerlinger Lounge on campus Monday. Jennifer Terry, a program director and associate professor in Woman’s Studies at the University of California-Irvine, spoke to the 19-person audience on a new concept she refers to as “nature culture.” “Nature and nurture are not separate, but intertwined together,” she said....