Editing Homosexual behavior in animals (section)

==In relation to humans==
[[File:Canis anthus - Cécile Bloch 12.png|300px|thumb|Two male [[African golden wolf|African golden wolves]] (''Canis anthus'')]]
[[File:Cant wait for the bull.jpg|300px|thumb|A cow "bulling" during oestrus.]]
[[File:Reduction-of-Dopamine-Level-Enhances-the-Attractiveness-of-Male-Drosophila-to-Other-Males-pone.0004574.s001.ogv |300px|thumb|Courtship behavior in male [[Drosophila|fruit flies]]]]

===Applying the term ''homosexual'' to animals===
The term ''homosexual'' was coined by the Hungarian writer and campaigner [[Karl Maria Kertbeny]] in 1868 to describe same-sex sexual attraction and sexual behavior in humans.<ref>The first known use of the word ''Homoseksuäl'' is found in Benkert Kertbeny, K. M. (1869): Paragraph 143 des Preussischen Strafgesetzebuches vom 14/4-1851 und seine Aufrechterhaltung als Paragraph 152 im ''Entwurf eines Strafgesetzbuches fur den Norddeutschen Bundes'', Leipzig, 1869. Reprinted in ''Jahrbuch fur sexuelle Zwischenstufen 7'' (1905), pp. 1–66</ref> Its use in animal studies has been controversial for two main reasons: animal sexuality and motivating factors have been and remain poorly understood, and the term has strong cultural implications in western society that are irrelevant for species other than humans.<ref>{{cite web | last=Dorit | first=Robert | name-list-style=vanc | title=Rethinking Sex | work=[[American Scientist]] | date=September–October 2004 | url=http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/rethinking-sex | access-date=2007-09-11 | archive-date=25 June 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625055424/http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/rethinking-sex | url-status=dead}}</ref> Thus homosexual behavior has been given a number of terms over the years. According to Bagemihl, when describing animals, the term ''homosexual'' is preferred over ''gay'', ''lesbian'', and other terms currently in use, as these are seen as even more bound to human homosexuality.<ref name=Bagemihl/>{{rp|122–166}}

Bailey et al. says:<ref name="Bailey_2009" /><blockquote>Homosexual: in animals, this has been used to refer to same-sex behavior that is not sexual in character (e.g. 'homosexual tandem running' in termites), same-sex courtship or copulatory behavior occurring over a short period of time (e.g. 'homosexual mounting' in cockroaches and rams) or long-term pair bonds between same-sex     partners that might involve any combination of courting, copulating, parenting and affectional behaviors (e.g. 'homosexual pair bonds' in gulls). In humans, the term is used to describe individual sexual behaviors as well as long-term relationships, but in some usages connotes a gay or lesbian social identity. Scientific writing would benefit from reserving this anthropomorphic term for humans and not using it to describe behavior in other animals, because of its deeply rooted context in human society.</blockquote>Animal preference and motivation is always inferred from behavior. In wild animals, researchers will not be able to map the entire life of an individual, and must infer from frequency of single observations of behavior. The correct usage of the term ''homosexual'' is that an animal ''exhibits homosexual behavior'' or even ''same-sex sexual behavior''; however, this article conforms to the usage by modern research,{{refn|<ref name=Bagemihl/>{{rp|122–166}}<ref name=Rainbow>{{cite book|first=Joan |last=Roughgarden |author-link=Joan Roughgarden| title=Evolutions rainbow: Diversity, gender and sexuality in nature and people| publisher=[[University of California Press]]| location=Berkeley, California | date=2004| pages=13–183|isbn=9780520957978 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7UqqAAAAQBAJ |via=[[Google Books]]| url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Vasey | first1 = Paul L | name-list-style = vanc | year = 1995 | title = Homosexual behaviour in primates: A review of evidence and theory | journal = [[International Journal of Primatology]] | volume = 16 | issue = 2| pages = 173–204 | doi=10.1007/bf02735477| s2cid = 26021360 }}</ref><ref name="Sommer & Vasey">{{cite book | last1 = Sommer | first1 = Volker | first2 = Paul L. | last2 = Vasey | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2006 | title = Homosexual Behaviour in Animals, An Evolutionary Perspective | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | location = Cambridge | isbn = 978-0-521-86446-6 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2016}}<ref name="Homosexual selection: The power of same-sex liaisons">{{cite web | last =Douglas | first =Kate | name-list-style = vanc | title= Homosexual selection: The power of same-sex liaisons | work=[[New Scientist]] | date=December 7, 2009 | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427370.800-homosexual-selection-the-power-of-samesex-liaisons.html?page=1 | access-date = 2009-12-21}}</ref>}} applying the term ''homosexuality'' to all sexual behavior ([[Copulation (zoology)|copulation]], [[Animal sexual behaviour#Pleasure|genital stimulation]], mating games and sexual [[Display (zoology)|display behavior]]) between animals of the same sex. In most instances, it is presumed that the homosexual behavior is but part of the animal's overall sexual behavioral repertoire, making the animal "bisexual" rather than "homosexual" as the terms are commonly understood in humans.<ref name="Sommer & Vasey" />{{page needed|date=May 2016}}

===Nature===
The observation of homosexual behavior in animals can be seen as both an argument for and against the acceptance of homosexuality in humans, and has been used especially against the claim that it is a ''[[peccatum contra naturam]]'' ("sin against nature"). For instance, homosexuality in animals was cited by the [[American Psychological Association]] and other groups in their ''[[amici curiae]]'' brief to the [[United States Supreme Court]] in ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'', which ultimately struck down the [[sodomy laws]] of 14 states.<ref name="Love That Dare Not Squeak" /><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.apa.org/about/offices/ogc/amicus/lawrence.pdf |title=Brief for Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners, ''Lawrence v. Texas''|publisher=[[American Psychological Association]]|date=January 2003}}</ref>