Does gay love exist? These gay flamingos say NO!!!
It’s June! Happy Pride Month, everyone!
Did you know? LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically in June, dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride.
In world history, Pride Month began in the United States began after the Stonewall riots, which were a series of gay liberation protests in 1969. The Stonewall riots actually began as a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a violent police raid at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Since the 1960s, LGBT rights and livelihoods have improved greatly (although we still have a lot way to go before true equality is reached) and Pride Month is a celebration that has since spread outside of the United States.
Today, we’re learning about a pair of gay birds! :D
Oh, but unfortunately … they are no longer in love! Ouch.
Meet Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass - a pair of gay flamingos from the Denver Zoo
It was an international love story - back in 2019, Freddie – an American flamingo who's bright pink – and Lance – a Chilean flamingo with lighter pink feathers – wanted to be together all the time. <3 They engaged in mating behavior and built a nest together. And, the zoo found, if a breeding couple ever abandoned one of their eggs, Freddie and Lance could take over surrogate parenting duties.
Freddie Mercury came to Denver Zoo in the 1970s. And - gossip time - before Lance came along, Freddie was in a monogamous relationship with a female flamingo for years.
However, when Lance entered the picture, Freddie was besotted. The pair were together for years and acted as surrogate parents whenever other flamingos were unable to raise their chick, which I honestly think was so sweet.
Unfortunately - and this is sure to ruffle some feathers - in 2020, Freddie and Lance broke up.
The couple broke up in the second half of 2020. According to zoo spokesperson Carlie McGuire, the bird drifted apart over a period of time and stopped engaging in the behaviors they showed before. "Mating for life isn’t necessarily true for all birds, and our keepers have noticed that some birds in long-term relationships sometimes decide to move on and pair up with other birds," the zoo said.
And did you know they actually broke up DURING Pride Month? Talk about a bad public relations move!
But that’s not all…
Because - eeks! - Freddie has now moved on to a new relationship.
And not only is the new bird female, she’s younger. Much younger!
Denver Zoo reports that now, 52-year-old Freddie has paired up with Iommi, a 14-year-old female American flamingo. O_O
Sadly, 20-year-old Lance hasn't formed a new bond with another bird yet :(
Other gay icons we love
But don’t let today’s article discourage you from finding love!
Just recently, in August 2022, gay flamingo dads in Whipsnade Zoo in England raised an abandoned chick - so maybe the world isn’t terrible after all!
Tim Savage, bird team leader at Whipsnade Zoo, explained flamingos usually “work together” as monogamous pairs to “care for their eggs and subsequent chicks”. According to the zoo, the gay pair of flamingoes, Hudson and Blaze, were the “clear choice” for the abandoned egg as they had “always proved to be ideal parents”.
According to Tim Savage, after the chick hatched in Hudson and Blaze’s nest, the gay dads sat with it for two weeks, keeping it warm and protecting it from other flamingos, who often squabble and shove around different nest sites.
They proceeded to feed their adorable fluffy grey flamingo baby its favourite meal - a bright red “crop milk” which is made in the linings of both male and female parents’ digestive tracts. This bright red “crop milk”, along with other pigments found in a flamingo’s natural diet, is actually what ends up colouring these birds such a lovely hue of rosy pink.
And, same-sex flamingo pairs are not unusual in flamingos, and Whipsnade Zoo has seen many queer flamingo couples. <3
I hope you liked today’s article and that you show some love to others today!
I love this tribute to Pride month!