What Animals Can Teach Us About Love and Queerness
Year round, animals practice what love honors.
Both within and beyond their particular species, animals demonstrate care, bonding, and affection.
They remind us that the gender binary is human-made, that sameness need not be the only glue holding pairs together (demonstrated by incidence of interspecies bonding), and that interconnectedness benefits us all — for which reason rigidly prioritizing heteronormative romantic relationships above all other types disservices so many of us (queer people especially).
Here’s more of what our animal teachers have to remind us of when it comes to love.
1. Play has an important role in strengthening love.
In human couples, playing together has been found to increase bonding, communication, conflict resolution, and relationship satisfaction. According to researchers at Utah State University, play can “promote spontaneity when life seems routine, serve as a reminder of positive relationship history, and help couples to unite in order to overcome differences.”
Some studies have even cited play as the most important factor in maintaining marital satisfaction.
Animals seem to recognize this, engaging in play as a means of strengthening their own…
