Many people, including researchers and people who are simply interested in animal behavior, have written off queer sexual behavior in nonhuman animals for any number of reasons, including that it is offensive or so rare as to be meaningless. However, times are changing, and science writer Josh Davis’s fascinating new book A Little Queer Natural History explains how queer animals and plants not only aren’t rare but are rather common, and studying their behavior more closely can open our eyes and hearts to the astonishing diversity of sexual behavior and biology found in nature. His book reminded me of another fascinating book called Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by bestselling author Eliot Schrefer in which the idea that same-sex sexual behavior is “unnatural” is fueled by an overly narrow view of natural selection and that thousands of animal species have demonstrated same-sex sexual behavior.

Here’s what Josh had to say about his riveting new book.

About five years ago, I co-produced and led the Natural History Museum’s first-ever LGBTQ natural history tour. Since then, I’ve been researching and writing about queer natural history for various outlets.

One of the things that stuck with me most was that this fascinating information was out there, just often in disparate books, papers, and various parts of the internet. Almost every time I delved into the subject, I’d come across something else new and interesting and could never quite........

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