Monday, January 15, 2007

One Hot Night in the Museum

In a related story, a museum in Oslo is staging an exhibit demonstrating homosexual behavior in countless animal species. If I'm not mistaken, homosexual behavior has been observed in members of something like 500 species. The exhibit, Against Nature? is the first exhibition in the world dedicated to gay animals, outside of South Park. I think the idea is to counter claims made by various anti-gay groups that homosexuality is "against nature".

Okay, my first question (after 'will it be hot?') would be why a Natural History Museum wouldn't see it as a bit, I don't know, lowering to engage in public debates with anyone, much less with homophobes. Is this intellectually worthwhile at all? I mean, isn't it one step from this to Jerry Springer? Also, aren't they taking on a rather stupid argument anyway? Is there honestly anybody making the 'against nature' argument who really has any idea what they're talking about?

My next question would be why they think this argument would work anyway. The fundamentalists aren't opposed to homosexuality because they think it goes against natural law; they're opposed because they think it goes against God's law, which is a totally different thing. In other words, even if they accept that some cats dig cats, and some chicks just dig chicks, it doesn't really change the fact that their God says 'No!' I assume they'd just expect gays and lesbians to remain celibate.