Hormonal Imbalances and Other Monstrosities

Unable to find any other “reason” for same-sex activity in animals, many scientists have tried to argue that homosexuality is itself a physical abnormality or the manifestation of some pathological condition. The most common physiological “malfunctions” that are suggested to “explain” homosexual behavior in animals are some sort of hormonal imbalance, and an “abnormal” condition of the sex organs. Female Sage Grouse who court and mount other females are described as suffering from “hormonal or hermaphroditic irregularities,” for example, while scientists speculate on the “endocrine balance” of female Rhesus Macaques that participate in homosexual activity, the possible “hormonal defects” of female Fat-tailed Dunnarts that mount other females, and the influence of “abnormal physiological particulars” on the lesbian behavior of Long-eared Hedgehogs. Scientists have even suggested that homosexual mounting by Takhi mares who are pregnant is due to the male hormones circulating in their system as a result of carrying a male fetus.¹⁰⁸

Scientific studies of homosexuality often seek evidence of “irregularities” in the form or condition of an animal’s sex organs. This reflects in large part the widespread misconception (stemming from early sexological discussions of humans) that homosexuality is tantamount to hermaphroditism—i.e., any gender “transgression” is mapped onto an anatomical or physiological “abnormality.” In 1937, scientists carefully examined the external genitalia of a male Common Garter Snake that had engaged in sexual behavior with another male to verify that it had “normal” male sex organs (it did). They then killed and dissected the animal to see if it had female gonads, reporting “no ovarian tissue was discovered.” Lest one think this merely reflects the outmoded views of the time, nearly 60 years later this scenario was repeated with uncanny parallelism. In 1993 scientists performed a laparotomy (a surgical technique to examine the internal sexual organs) on a male Hooded Warbler that repeatedly formed homosexual pairs, in order to verify its sex and determine the condition of its male organs; the bird was later killed to obtain tissue samples. They reported that his sex organs were indistinguishable from other males’, adding—in words echoing those used more than half a century earlier—“No ovarian tissue was present.”¹⁰⁹ Just as early medical descriptions of homosexuality in humans often focused attention on the supposedly abnormal development or condition of the external genitals (along with hormonal factors), so, too, have scientists studying same-sex activity in animals tried to link this behavior to genital “peculiarities.” In describing male companions in African Elephants, one zoologist emphasized that animals in such partnerships may exhibit physical “defects” including “enlarged external genitalia,” while an ornithologist describing a male Snow Goose in a homosexual pair felt compelled to remark, “His much enlarged penis indicated a strong endocrine stimulation.”¹¹⁰

There is no evidence to support a hormonal or other physiological “explanation” of animal homosexuality, and there is considerable evidence against it. Comprehensive and rigorous endocrinological analyses, as well as gonad measurements, of homosexual Western and Ring-billed Gull females show conclusively that there are no significant hormonal or anatomical differences between birds in homosexual and heterosexual pairs that could account for same-sex pairing. Specifically, investigators found that females in homosexual pairs are not hormonally “masculinized,” i.e., they do not have higher levels of male hormones (androgens) than do females in heterosexual pairs. If anything, homosexual females may be more hormonally “feminine” than heterosexual females: some lesbian Ring-billed Gulls actually have significantly higher levels of progesterone, a female hormone associated with nest-building and incubation behavior.¹¹¹ Likewise, studies of a variety of primate species have shown no correlation between hormone levels and homosexual activity.¹¹²

Conversely, researchers have found hormonal differences between individuals in some species that exhibit homosexual behavior, but not in animals that participate specifically in same-sex activity. Endocrinological studies of Pied Kingfishers, for example, reveal that some males have lowered testosterone levels (as well as smaller gonads), but these individuals constitute one class of nonbreeding “helpers” who assist their parents in raising young. Few, if any, such males are involved in the homosexual pair-bonding or mounting activity that sometimes occurs in this species. Likewise, a certain category of nonbreeding Orang-utans (those with “flanges”) often have elevated estrogen levels—but homosexual activity is neither characteristic of, nor exclusive to, such individuals. In other species scientists have determined that an “unusual” hormonal profile is found in the majority of individuals, but this is not linked to homosexual activity. In Spotted Hyenas, females generally have higher levels of a particular “male” hormone (a type of androgen) than do males, yet only a fraction of them actually participate in same-sex mounting; moreover, pregnant females also have elevated levels of testosterone (regardless of the sex of their fetus) but are not more prone to same-sex mounting. Likewise, all female Western Gulls have high levels of androgens (including testosterone)—nearly equal to those of males—regardless of whether they are in homosexual or heterosexual pairs.¹¹³ These examples illustrate another important point: in many species a portion of the population routinely exhibits hormonal profiles (or other physiological characteristics) that differ from the “norm”—sometimes correlated with nonbreeding—yet only when individuals display overt homosexuality or transgender is the label of abnormality or dysfunction applied.

In most instances where a physiological “explanation” is advocated, this is purely conjectural, not based on any actual hormonal studies of the animals involved, and often highly improbable on independent grounds. For example, the connection between male fetal hormones and a pregnant mother’s behavior—advocated as an “explanation” for mounting among female Takhi—is entirely speculative, since endocrinological profiles were not drawn up for the specific individuals involved in same-sex activity. Moreover, even if there were a connection, it would be at most only a partial explanation for this (and other) species. One Takhi mare mounted males when carrying a male fetus rather than mounting other females and also failed to show similar behavior the next year when she was again pregnant with a male fetus.¹¹⁴ Thus, additional factors must be involved in determining whether such mares participate in homosexual, bisexual, and/or heterosexual (reverse) mounting behavior, if any of these. More generally, this explanation does not have wide applicability to other species. For example, only a fraction of Domestic Horses (which are closely related to Takhi) ever show mounting behavior of any sort when pregnant.¹¹⁵ In addition, homosexual behavior by pregnant females occurs in less than 8 percent of all mammals in which female homosexual mounting has been documented, and in none of these species is the behavior exclusive to pregnant females (or to pregnant females carrying male fetuses). A fetal hormonal “explanation” is irrelevant, as well, for huge segments of homosexual activity, such as same-sex behaviors in animals that do not get pregnant (males of virtually all species and females of egg-laying species, for example).

In addition to being empirically unfounded, physiological explanations are also suspect on conceptual grounds. Almost without exception, hormonal or other pathological accounts of homosexuality focus on the animal exhibiting “gender-atypical” behavior, e.g., the male being mounted or the female doing the mounting. The partners of these individuals are usually considered to be physically “normal” animals whose behavior warrants no further consideration. Yet in many cases the “gender-conforming” partners are equally active participants in homosexual activity, sometimes even initiating same--sex interactions. As we saw in the discussion of “pseudoheterosexual” explanations, this categorization of animals into gender-conforming versus nonconforming, or “truly homosexual” versus “not-quite-homosexual” individuals, is in most cases arbitrary. It reflects not so much any inherent qualities or meaningful behavioral attributes in the animals themselves, but rather the observer’s biases or conceptual categories.¹¹⁶

The pathologizing of “gender-atypical” behavior is taken to its extreme in the discussion of transgendered animals. Early descriptions of intersexual animals of ten labeled them “monstrosities.”¹¹⁷ More recently, hermaphroditism, chromosomal and other forms of gender mixing, and physical and behavioral transvestism are invariably considered diseased states, birth defects, physiological abnormalities, or otherwise dysfunctional. Yet researchers have usually been as unsuccessful in determining the physical “causes” for transgender as they have for homosexuality. For example, in discussing what they call “effeminate” behavior in Bighorn rams (males who exhibit some of the behavioral and social characteristics of females), scientists have tried to appeal to hormonal factors. Yet they were forced to conclude that this is an unsatisfactory explanation, since such males are physically “normal” and differ from other rams only in their behavior. The entire discourse surrounding transgender in White-tailed Deer centers on describing this as a “pathological condition” and attempting to find its physiological source. Velvet-horns (gender-mixing male deer) in Texas were subjected to a comprehensive battery of tests, including sampling and dissection of their sex organs to look for infection or “anomalies,” blood tests for possible microorganisms or contaminants, dietary profiles, hormone injections, and chromosomal studies, none of which turned up any “cause.” Investigators finally concluded that this “condition” must be due to a naturally occurring toxin in the soil where the animals live, yet admitted that no specific substance that might have this effect could be pinpointed or isolated in the animals’ environment. Similarly, a gender-mixing Savanna (Chacma) Baboon in South Africa was shot and dissected to “study” its reproductive organs. Another was captured and given hormone “treatments” to see if it would behave like a “normal” female (defined, in this case, as participation in heterosexual intercourse with a male). Investigators stated that this individual could have been a “successful female in the wild” if only it had “normal functioning ovaries.”¹¹⁸

These cases highlight one of the primary reasons that transgendered animals are usually considered abnormal: they often cannot (or do not) reproduce. Yet this is a limited and erroneous definition of “normalcy” that overlooks crucial facts about the lives of transgendered (and nontransgendered) animals. For one thing, transgendered animals arise “spontaneously” and repeatedly in natural populations, and they do survive successfully in the wild. Gender-mixing Baboons similar to the one given hormonal treatments have been observed in the same area of South Africa as far back as the early 1900s and are probably a regularly occurring feature of this and other populations. Moreover, such individuals are fully integrated members of their troops and may even assume high-ranking or “leadership” positions. The truth is, the gender-mixing individual described above (and others like it) was able to survive and even prosper without “normal functioning ovaries.” Similarly, velvet-horns have been reported in a wide range of geographic areas and at least as far back as 1910–20, again indicating a long-standing, regular feature of natural Deer populations.¹¹⁹ Although such individuals are sometimes “ostracized” by other Deer, they have developed their own forms of social organization, living in distinct “communities” with unique behavior patterns.

Conversely, many nontransgendered animals fail to participate in reproduction and may in fact never successfully procreate during their entire lives (numerous examples will be discussed in the next chapter). If failure to reproduce were sufficient grounds to exclude an individual from “normalcy,” the majority of animals in some populations and species would not make the roster. In contrast, many transgendered animals do reproduce, such as intersexual Bears and gender-mixing female White-tailed Deer, and may in fact be more heterosexually successful than nontransgendered animals (as in transvestite Northern Elephant Seals, Red Deer, Black-headed Gulls, and Common Garter Snakes¹²⁰). The final irony is that nonbreeding animals (including transgendered individuals) are also sometimes more healthy than breeders, precisely because they do not reproduce. Velvet-horn White-tailed Deer, for instance, are generally in much better physical condition than breeding males because they do not undergo the extreme physical rigors of the rutting season, which often cause severe weight loss and may even stunt growth in young bucks. Likewise, the mortality rate of breeding Bighorn rams is nearly six times higher than that of nonbreeding males. Clearly, then, participation in reproduction can be a liability rather than an asset to an individual’s survival and success.

The vehement pathologizing of transgender encapsulates the entire discussion surrounding the “cause” of alternate sexual and gender expression in animals. Phenomena such as homosexuality or gender mixing are never seen as neutral or expected variations along a sexual and gender continuum (or continua), but rather as abnormal or exceptional conditions that require explanation. At the root of this perception is the idea that homosexuality and transgender are dysfunctional behaviors or conditions because they do not lead to reproduction. In the next chapter, we’ll explore in greater detail the role of procreation in the animal kingdom and its complex interrelationships with homosexuality, bisexuality, transgender, and heterosexuality. Some of our most fundamental assumptions regarding the significance of reproduction must be revised as we come to understand the often surprising ways that animals structure their breeding and nonbreeding lives.

Chapter 5