Some people remain convinced that being queer is a choice, an anomaly, a problem to be solved. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Some people argue that queerness is wrong because it is unnatural and not observable in any species on earth. This is false. Homosexual behavior has been documented in more than 450 species. Anthropologists have been studying the issue since 1952 and have found homosexual behaviors in all primates and in every human society they have studied. There are intersex animals, animals with more than two sexes, even animals that change their sex depending on the circumstances. In many ways, human beings are far less queer than other members of the animal kingdom.
The argument that someone is always, from birth, one of two genders simply doesn’t hold up in history, culture, or science. Gender and sex in humans and across the animal kingdom are much more complicated than “male” and “female.” Biology is an essential part of our identities but it certainly isn’t the only part of our being.
From “Welcoming and Affirming: A Guide to Supporting and Working with LGBTQ+ Christian Youth” by Leigh Finke – Broadleaf Books