Polyamorous and bisexual biologist and LGBTQ+ activist Antonia Forster just convinced me:
all the kinky stuff I’m into is nothing compared to the animals out there.
In her TEDx talk, Antonia Forster breaks down how freaky sea slugs, bees, and bonobos really get, what the heck „natural“ means,
and where you may be wrong with your assumptions about gender and sexuality.
Antonia Forster: „Homosexuality has been documented in more than 1,500 different species of animals.
(…) Everything from Asian elephants, to African elephants to lions, giraffes, dolphins, penguins, dragonflies, and every species of great ape – our closest ancestors – that’s orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos.
In fact, in bonobos the vast majority of individuals are bisexual and 60% of mating behaviors happens between two females.“
Antonia Forster makes clear: „We have to understand the difference between gender and sex“.
She clarifies this by showing an illustration by Sam Killerman and explains:
„It clearly shows the difference between your gender identity, that’s who you are; your orientations, that’s who you love or are attracted to; your sex, which is your physical body; and your gender expression, that’s how you dress.
Each of these things is a spectrum, not a binary and by that I mean it’s all shades of grey.
It’s not black and white.“
But convince yourself and watch her TEDx talk here:
„The world of nature is diverse and eye-opening and amazing.
Clearly, biology cannot be used to justify bigotry.
In fact, I would say the opposite is true.
The more we look and study the natural world, the more we are forced to question our own most fundamental assumptions.“ says Antonia Forster.
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