Nummi, your stance on this matter is quite hard to catch: do you believe being gay is an illness?
A disorder, a malformation. Just like a child due to some issues would grow to have bones not right. Or any physical malformation that is caused by nutrient deficiencies, toxins, nutrient imbalance, stress. All natural in the sense that deficiencies and harmful influences cause issues.
I see why some people would think so, but the fact is that even animals who live in a pristine, pollution-free environment, eating the most optimal diet, will still display homosexual behavior, partially or totally.
Optimal diet? They might live in the wild. But they (carnivores, omnivores) have to catch food. And they have competition catching food. There will be those who don't get exactly as much as they need. This will cause deficiencies, thus health issues and stress, even end in death.
Wild animals are also much more "primal" and instinctive in their behavior and actions. They cannot think over and find the reasons and causes why they behave and act as they do. With them instincts and base emotions rule. One way or another their "needs" will be carried out (at least keeping organs functioning), whether there will be a resulting child or not. Some also use these acts to show dominance over others.
Saying "animals exhibit same qualities" is not enough. Reasons and causes are relevant, not the acts themselves.
We are humans, they are wild animals. There are similarities but also significant differences. We have our peculiar mind and ability to review ourselves and reasons we are as we are, and consciously correct ourselves. Correct ourselves according to perceived ideals, to get closer and closer to them, whichever those ideals are. They can't do this.
I think the number of "totally" gay animals may have to do with the size of the group they live in. The more individuals there is, the less breeders are needed, the more gays there will be. If a previously gay animal ends up being the last one of his sex among different-sex beings, chances are he will become heterosexual through some sort of hormonal shift for the sake of the survival of his specie.
The more animals there are the more food they will collectively need. Obviously the strongest or smartest get the best food. The rest will suffer, some might even starve. It's not paradise for them, they don't have everything they need at any given moment.
If a gay turns to be "the last" of his sex, then that means he'll get all the best food. Thus body will heal whatever was wrong. Then hormones and all will be functioning correctly. But if is the last of his sex... what other choice does he have but to turn straight? He's the only male left... and a harem of females.
With humans it's more complex than that. We have our minds and emotions. We can get mentally or emotionally stuck even if nutritionally everything's fine. Not to mention the possibility that the damage done during pregnancy is permanent (though nothing's really permanent, there's always a way, just might not know it or might not have access to it).
In a wolf pack, all non-alpha members are gay, and in a state of hormonal numbness, until the Alpha can be challenged. At that point they start producing hormones such as testosterone in higher levels again, and if one wolf (usually the beta) succeeds in taking the place of the alpha male, it becomes heterosexual. That's how they keep from spending all their time killing each other over leadership.
When two young lions who recently left their old pack stumble upon one another, they will form a couple and take part in homosexual acts to strengthen their bond and ensure better protection of one another, until the day they find an old lion to challenge for its lionesses.
Yes, not humans.
And interesting that you would concentrate on wild animals, but not talk about humans when this discussion began about humans.
And interesting you would mention only "carnivorous" animals.
Then there are apes, who are omnivorous.
But how about herbivorous animals?
They all have different food sources and different dietary needs. Carnivorous ones have the toughest life in this regard; they have to hunt, or starve and die.
Homosexuality is as much a disorder as being left-handed. It's a survival strategy for the individual, the group, and the specie.
It can be, but doesn't mean it always is. In case of humans, it is not.
Wild animals need such control, otherwise they'd run out of food to eat and starve to death, as they'd proliferate without stop, thus possibly starve to extinction. So this "gay" function has naturally developed, when population gets too high and nutrition goes down.
We humans don't need gayness. Because we have our peculiar minds. We aren't subject to instincts and base emotions without much self-control like wild animals are. We have the possibility to create for ourselves the conditions where we don't have to suffer the effects of under-nutrition. Male-male and female-female is never as satisfying as male-female. Male-female is whole, as we are not an androgynous species.
To say we humans need it when our population is ridiculously high and getting higher, even with the presence of gays... We are not wild animals, difference is primarily our mind. The reasons that apply to them do not apply to us, because we have better ways, ways more appropriate to our species and our peculiarities.
edit: reading over, there's so many places to add more details, more perspectives... can see well why telepathy would be necessary for species more advanced than us... Can't say much without saying much. Thoughts are short and simple and precise and fast, but to describe them in words...
Or better, more advanced, language.
