What are the selective advantages of homosexual sex in the animal kingdom from an evolutionary standpoint?

Question

I'm sure people have heard of the mate couple of gay penguins in an asian zoo, as well as the frequent male-male sex that occurs among certain species of horses, apes, dolphins, etc. (answers other than 'cause it's fun' would be of interest.

Answer 1

Konrad Lorenz studied geese in the wild 50 years or so ago. He discovered that when two male geese paired for life, they had sex with each other and acted like any heterosexual pair. They also took a female each season and helped her raise the goslings. The threesomes were far better at raising a family to fledging than more typical pairs. Groupings of two males and one female raised more young than any two normal groupings. Homosexuality produced more offspring.

In other animal and bird groups, homosexual pairs help to raise the young of their siblings providing better rates of survival. In some species, only the alpha males have sex with the females. Many of the younger males have sex with each other but help the alpha male raise the youngsters. All the indications are that homosexuality is beneficial to the species wherever it has been observed.

Answer 2

the only reason is the fun ,but it is part of the evolutionary energy

there is homo sexual activity amongst just about all animals ,as well as fish ,even some insects,
sexuality is the strongest force in nature along with self preservation ,this is an evolutionary concept that is build in to ensure that the species survives and even cross breeds to addapt to changing environments
so it is easier to try and have sex with anything .that to limit the force to specific gender
a bee will try to mate with a pebble if the queen is indisposed

a fish will asume the markings of a female so that it can swimm through a cloud of sperm(very kinky)
male dogs on top of others
cows jump on top of cows
bulls jump on top of bulls

Answer 3

Well, one advantage is bonding. For example, in apes, the colony (probably wrong word) does better if they work together. And that requires caring among the members. But it also may be advantageous for there not to be too many offspring at one time.

In humans, you can see it in the sense that a gay uncle can pass on *most* of his genes if his niece/nephews do well.

You can see similar things in menapause. A woman no longer can have chidren, but she can be a grandmother and increase the chances of her genes being passed along.