Humans are from Mars, monkeys are from Venus

Local researcher Paul Vasey blows the doors off nature's closet

by MATTHEW HAYS

Lesbian Japanese monkeys may sound less like the subject of serious scientific research than the headline of a National Enquirer exposé. But that's exactly what primatologist and Université de Montréal doctoral student Paul Vasey has been studying for the past five years, and his findings are attracting a good deal of attention in the scientific community.

"Charles Darwin's theory of sexual selection states that individuals choose their mates based on their reproductive value; therefore, individuals of the same sex compete with each other for opposite-sex mates," Vasey explains. "My research indicates that female Japanese macaques engage in sexual behaviour not necessarily to reproduce, but for sexual gratification--because it feels good. That has a lot of implications."

Vasey found that male members of the species virtually never indulged in homosexual behaviour, but that many of the females were bisexual and often preferred females over males. "A lot of people feel that homosexuality occurs because there isn't any opposite sex alternative. What I've found with the macaques is that when two females are together, and if a male comes and solicits one of the females, at that moment she has a choice: she can either go with the male or remain with her female partner. Over 90 per cent of the time, she remains in the same-sex partnership."

Vasey says the choice of these females is definitely a choice, arguing that they are not lesbian but bisexual. "They have sex with both males and females. Being with females doesn't stop them from procreating."

Vasey published his findings in last September's edition of the noted journal Animal Behaviour; the American weekly magazine Science News also summarized his research in its Jan. 4 issue. Vasey is only too aware that his research has social implications. "People tend to use animals to measure what is and isn't natural. When you say something like 'homosexuality isn't natural,' then you're using animals as your reference point. Clearly my research contributes towards showing that this statement is false."

Vasey, who is gay, refutes the idea that his research is necessarily "activist science." "I question the very idea of using animals as a basis for determining legal or moral guidelines for humans," he says. "Let's say that animals didn't demonstrate any homosexual behaviour. Does that provide an argument for gays and lesbians not to have equal rights? If we are going to make statements like 'homosexuality is unnatural,' then let's actually examine what's going on in nature."