Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

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ShadowOkamiMT
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Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by ShadowOkamiMT » Fri Feb 02, 2018 7:24 am

A lot of people seem to like to fantasize about this and though there has been accounts of males humping other males and wolves of the same gender raising pups, I figure they are not actually gay since wolves don't have a concept of sexual orientation and the same gender wolves raising pups I would say is not homosexual behavior but simply helping your family out since with pups the whole pack helps. But so many people roleplay on multiplayer as gay, bi, lesbian wolves. Typically when I host I just tell everyone to simply not state sexualities at all no straight, gay, or bi since it is rather inappropriate for a game like this and is simply not needed. I just want an explanation on this, typically me personally I would say they can't be gay or lesbian since Wolves don't have a concept of sexualities, that is a human thing. Can I have some answers from WolfQuest's Experts please. Thanks!
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by loboLoco » Fri Feb 02, 2018 8:28 am

Yes, scientists have observed homosexuality in many animals, including wolves. Can't recall where exactly I read that (about wolves specifically )a few years ago, but I bet you could find something if you research it.
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by ShadowOkamiMT » Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:10 am

Have any proof lobolocal? I wanted some actually facts to back it up like most other questions get. I am iffy to believe fact that I am unsure about with out something to read up on it myself. I always double check and if there is no fact to back it up I still consider it unknown. Anything I can read?
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by SolitaryHowl » Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:19 am

Not sure about wolves, but many animals display homosexual tendencies. See the references section of this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexua ... References
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by loboLoco » Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:21 am

ShadowOkamiMT wrote:Have any proof lobolocal?
Not offhand, but the Internet is a vast resource for independent research, if you're interested in the topic :)

(And I do kinda like the name "loboLocal" -- just your neighborhood wolf hanging out at the coffeeshop.)
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by ShadowOkamiMT » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:36 am

Whoops sorry Lobo, called you the wrong thing. And thanks for trying to answer and giving a suggestion, but the internet, though vast is not always trustworthy since anyone can write stuff and claim it to be true. Anyways I guess I will just label my answer to this questions as unknown for now, since the only two suggestion I got, was look stuff up or read Wiki XD Though I will say I did do my research before asking but could not find anything on this when looking at official wolf research websites,that is why I asked. Most of the trustworthy official ecology and wildlife studies websites I have read about wolves on don't mention anything about wolves literally having homosexual tendencies. I will keep looking I suppose, maybe if I find something trustworthy and informative I will share it with WolfQuest Forums, though right now I guess I am saying it is unknown what the truth is. Thanks anyways guys :3
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by SolitaryHowl » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:48 am

I didn't say to read the Wiki article (which can be inaccurate), I said to look up and read the references cited in that article. Wikipedia is a good resource if you just read the references that are used and not the articles themselves.
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by Polynesia » Sun Feb 04, 2018 8:12 pm

Lots of animals have shown homosexual behaviour, but it’s almost always for dominance reasons between males. (A strong male climbing on top of a weaker male.) They will still have sex with the opposite gender to reproduce, so they’re not actually homosexual.

The only animals which can be homosexual, that I know of, are humans, and apparently sheep. (:
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by DaniBeez » Mon Feb 19, 2018 6:52 pm

Hey Shadow,

Some time has passed since you initially posted this question, but if you are (or anyone else reading this is) still interested in scientific evidence of homosexuality in wolves/canines I am willing to use my institutional access to look into this. Let me know though so I don't go to the trouble of doing so for nothing :) !
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by Marshy the wolf » Sat Mar 03, 2018 6:41 pm

Well wolves could be gay or lesbian but what's the points it's mostly the same just same gender? :?:

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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by Invar » Wed Apr 04, 2018 5:13 pm

Polynesia wrote:Lots of animals have shown homosexual behaviour, but it’s almost always for dominance reasons between males. (A strong male climbing on top of a weaker male.) They will still have sex with the opposite gender to reproduce, so they’re not actually homosexual.

The only animals which can be homosexual, that I know of, are humans, and apparently sheep. (:
Thing is, who gets to say if it's 'for dominance reasons'? Do they have evidence of that, or are they just saying that because of their own preconceptions?

Human beings who are homosexual will often have sex with the apposite gender to reproduce, too.

Greylag geese are well-known to form male-male pair-bonds. They copulate and do the 'triumph ceremony' pair-bond ritual with one another. They tend to attract a female, whom they both mate with but are otherwise rather inattentive to, and all three care for the goslings. This trio family structure is more successful than male-female pairs because with three parents, two of whom are big tough ganders, the goslings are better protected from predators and more survive.

Herring gulls and Great Black-Backed gulls frequently form female-female pairs who will copulate and do all the pair stuff, but also both of them sneak off to 'seduce' male neighbors in the rookeries. Both lay and incubate the double-clutch of eggs. These pairs are also more successful than male-female pairs, because they rear double-sized clutches of chicks.

I think if you look hard enough you'll find that pretty much every species has examples of homosexual copulation attempts, homosexual pair-bonding behaviors, and females who behave in typically male ways and vice-versa.

I think that the OP is correct that wolves can't really be gay or lesbian. A wolf might have a marked preference for doing sexual and pair-bond behaviors with another of the same sex, but being gay is a personal identity. If wolves have self-concepts at all, they probably don't have sexuality as an axis of identity -- wolves with male-male pair-bonds probably aren't 'gay' any more than wolves born in Wyoming are 'Americans.'

Roleplayed wolves in the multi-player, however, do have identities, and while 'No sexual RP' is a rule on WQ and a good one, telling people that they can't choose their wolf character's personal identity is probably Not Cool (tm).

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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by wolf_whisperer98 » Tue Apr 17, 2018 11:41 pm

Marshy the wolf wrote:Well wolves could be gay or lesbian but what's the points it's mostly the same just same gender? :?:
I do not believe wolves, or any other canid, feral or domestic, know the meaning of sexual identities. As someone had previously stated above, it's mostly a dominance display. Males will sometimes do a ride-up on other males and mount them but it's not in an attempt to reproduce, or for pleasure but rather showing said animal who's of higher authority.
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Re: Can wolves be Gay/Lesbian?

Post by Isela » Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:20 pm

Questions and speculations like these can be tricky, because we cannot get inside the wolf's head and find out exactly what they are thinking and feeling. There were some good answers to this question that were already mentioned (re. loboloco and SolitaryHowel's posts). Since the question has been answered (as best as can be considering the topic), I will go ahead and lock this topic to prevent any repetitive posts.

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