More than one way to interpret the gay penguin story...

Heard about this story yet??

"Roy and Silo were a Chinstrap penguin couple in New York's Central Park Zoo.

The pair were observed trying to hatch a rock as if it were an egg. When the zoo staff realized that Roy and Silo were both male, it occurred to them to give them the second egg of a mixed-gender penguin couple, a couple which previously had been unable to successfully hatch two eggs at a time. Roy and Silo hatched and raised the healthy young chick, a female named "Tango" by keepers. Their story is the basis for the children's book And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole.

Tango is now a healthy young female penguin. She has formed a relationship with Tazuni, another female penguin. The two have paired the last two mating season."

info from: wikipedia

All this information on the homosexual penguins was quickly turned into a Children's book and trumpeted by the LGBT community as a shining, timeless, beautiful example of a "natural" homosexual relationship.

Here is a summary of the book:

"The Central Park Zoo is home to all kinds of animal families. But Tango the penguin's family is a bit different -- she has two fathers. This heartwarming story will open the minds of readers, resonating long after the story has finished."

And here are some comments about the book:

"A touching and delightful variation on a major theme." -- Maurice Sendak

"This wonderful story of devotion is heartwarming proof that Mother Nature knows best." -- Harvey Fierstein

"Charming! And Tango Makes Three proves that all kinds of love can create a family." -- Wendy Wasserstein

"A little miracle for children. Funny, tender, and true, the story of Tango will delight young readers and open their minds." -- John Lithgow

"Cole's pictures complement the perfectly cadenced text...Those who share this with children will find themselves returning to it again and again... for the two irresistible birds at its center and for the celebration of patient, loving fathers who "knew just what to do." -- Booklist, starred review

"In this true, straightforwardly (so to speak) delivered tale, two male chinstrap penguins at New York City's Central Park Zoo bond, build a nest and -- -- thanks to a helping hand from an observant zookeeper -- -- hatch and raise a penguin chick...Readers may find its them of acceptance even more convincing for being delivered in such a matter of fact, non -- preachy way." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"[A] heartwarming tale. Older readers will most appreciate the...larger theme of tolerance at work in this touching tale." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This joyful story about the meaning of family is a must for any library." -- School Library Journal, starred review

"And Tango Makes Three is bound to raise eyebrows, but for those of us eager to encourage our children to include, rather than exclude, it's a welcome addition to the library of families. The well -- written, perfectly placed text is delivered with a deft touch...Happily, and surprisingly, And Tango Makes Three rises above the message it carries and becomes the rarest of birds, a 'message book' that's also a really good story." -- New York Times Book Review

What a wonderful way to help "young readers and open their minds" and to help "encourage our children to include, rather than exclude" and to help older readers "appreciate the...larger theme of tolerance at work in this touching tale."

Ahhhhh.... "Being gay is okay" is the message in this book that we want to teach our children. -Never mind the fact that approximately one out of every three gay men practicing the lifestyle will acquire HIV/AIDS - being gay is "healthy" and "natural".

When one third of gay men will contract HIV/AIDS during their lifetime, how can we say that this is an activity that can be made safe? The infection rates are so high that one can more properly say that gay sex is an inherently unsafe activity. Advising men on how to have safe gay sex is, therefore, like advising people how to safely drive drunk, or how to safely smoke crack. The only responsible advice for gay people is not how to make such a dangerous activity safer, but that that they shouldn't engage in this activity at all.

If any other activity, besides gay sex, led to such a high risk of infection of a deadly disease, there would be a huge campaign to get people to stop that activity. It would be made illegal. We would be bombarded by public service announcements like the "just say no" to drugs campaign. Just as "friends don't let friends drive drunk," people shouldn't let anyone they care about participate in gay sex. But because of the powerful pro-gay lobby which strongly influences the mainstream media and has an even greater control over Hollywood, the truth about the huge risk of gay sex is ignored, and anyone who says otherwise is accused of being "homophobic." Movies and TV shows now routinely depict the gay lifestyle as perfectly moral and no more dangerous to one's health than the heterosexual lifestyle. Even the supposedly conservative Supreme Court has ruled that this dangerous sexual activity is a constitutionally protected right.

info above from: half sigma


Now let's find out some more facts:

• "Roy and Silo were kept in an unnatural environment, namely a zoo enclosure with no females. Still having the instincts for pairing up, Roy and Silo took the only choice afforded them - another male. ...

• The zoo staff had to provide a spare egg from a heterosexual couple in order for Roy and Silo to ‘reproduce’. After all, quite clearly, purely homosexual couples cannot produce offspring. If homosexual preference really is all in the genes, the trait will quickly disappear from the gene pool, as no offspring will ever be produced from a homosexual pairing. How does that help show that homosexuality is ‘natural’?

• Further undermining the theoretical notion (not the ‘indisuptable fact proven by science’ as some may argue) that homosexuality is all in the genes, Roy and Silo’s ‘daughter’ Tango grew up to display homosexual preference as well, this time in a female-female pairing. Now as you have seen... Tango is in no way related to Roy or Silo. She has none of their genetic material - not a single line of DNA from them. So where did she get her ‘gay genes’ from? Or could it be more likely that, being raised by two homosexuality-displaying parents, she was influenced by them - an environmental cause, not a genetic one?

• And to demolish the March of the Gay Penguins altogether, after 6 years of partnering together, Roy and Silo separated. Roy remained single, while Silo, gay icon and shining example of the alternative lifestyles of nature… Paired up with a female named Scrappy."

excerpts above from Burning Hot


These are a sampling of some questions for discussions that the LGBT community would have you discuss with your children:

• "'Family' is a prominent theme in And Tango Makes Three. Discuss the concept of a "family." What constitutes a family? Tango's family is different, but how is it the same as any other family in the zoo? In the world?

• Roy and Silo are a little bit different from the other penguins in the zoo. What does it mean to be different? Why is it sometimes good to be different?

• The Central Park Zoo, where And Tango Makes Three takes place, is home to all kinds of animal families. But Tango's family is unlike the other families in the zoo. Tango has two fathers instead of the traditional mother and father. Do you have a nontraditional family, or do you know someone who does? Do you think that Tango is missing out by not having a mother?

• Mr. Gramzay, the penguin keeper at the Central Park Zoo, is very sympathetic to Roy and Silo. He is accepting of their differences and wants to help them become a family. How can you learn from Mr. Gramzay's actions in the book? Who else is accepting of Roy, Silo, and Tango in this story?

• Mr. Gramzay decides to give Roy and Silo an egg to hatch in their nest. Why do you think he does this? What does he see in Roy and Silo that makes him decide that they would be good at raising a baby? Do you think that Roy and Silo are good parents? Why?"

Well, these questions below should ALSO be discussed with our children if we really want to discuss ALL of the facts:

• Is homosexual preference really a ‘preference’? Would Roy and Silo have chosen males over females if they had been given the choice during their formative, adolescent and mature ages - instead of being confined in an all-male environment?

• Is homosexuality ‘natural’? Considering that if nature were allowed to run its course, homosexual behaviour would die out within the short span of ONE GENERATION from lack of propagation - as it produces no offspring to carry on the so-called ‘gay genes’? Unless, of course, the homosexual individual ‘cheats’ and mates with a member of the opposite gender…

• Is homosexuality really 100% genetically determined and 0% influenced by upbringing and surroundings? Tango did not inherit any ‘gay genes’ from her adoptive parents, but grew up continually exposed to the homosexual lifestyle of Roy and Silo.

• If upbringing and environment can influence a child’s sexuality, what does it say about homosexual marriages and adoption and raising of children in a homosexual household? If genes are not the sole factor, then this is one way to ‘propagate’ homosexuality.

• Should the sexual and familial behaviour of animals be at any time used as an example or a guide for human behaviour? We are, after all, PEOPLE - the very definition of which excludes being beasts controlled solely by base and bestial impulses."

(questions from Burning Hot)