00:02There are approximately 8.7 million living animal species on Earth.
00:10For centuries, we have been told that when it comes to gender and sexuality,
00:16all these millions of species follow a certain set of rules.
00:21But what if this narrative fails to capture the full spectrum of life's diversity?
00:30Homosexual behavior in nature is one of the best kept secrets.
00:34It's absolutely everywhere.
00:36Not only do many species illustrate homosexuality and gender multiplicity,
00:41they also illustrate sex transition.
00:44Biologists now know sexuality is fluid and that all of that is normal.
00:50I don't know any species where homosexual sex or gender non-conforming is a taboo or cannot be done,
00:57except when it comes to humans.
01:00There have always been scientists who have been willing to stand in opposition to the existing world view,
01:06and there are consequences for that.
01:08I was completely unprepared as a scientist to deal with this.
01:13We learned what we learned in school and we want to believe that it's true and it's messy to now
01:17say,
01:17oh, it wasn't really that way.
01:19I realized it can't be the people who are defective, it's got to be the science.
01:25If we understand same-sex behavior better, we're also going to understand different sex behavior better.
01:30We're just going to understand the sexual lives of animals better.
01:33There is endless diversity in nature and the old stories we've been taught deserve a second look.
01:51For more information, visit www.fema.org.
