"Unnatural acts" in nature : the scientific fascination with queer animals

J. Terry

Explores how animals provide models for scientists seeking to determine a biological substrate of sexual orientation. The examples chosen highlight some of the ways that sexual orientation is defined by various researchers watching different species for assorted reasons under varying material and historical conditions. Historical shifts in the conceptualization of homosexuality in both mainstream and gay and lesbian contexts are reflected in these examples. The author treats every example as a nodal point on a discursive field in which the terms of gender, sexuality, and sexual identity are being transformed, as scientists, like many of us, attempt to think about sexual variance, whether in local or in universal terms.