In celebration of Pride Month, here are five books that explore and celebrate sexual diversity in people and nature. Titles are available at the Nature Shop or your local library. Happy Pride, book lovers!
Queer Ecologies: Sex, Nature, Politics, Desire
by Catriona Mortimer-Sandlands et al.
Description: Treating such issues as animal sex, species politics, environmental justice, lesbian space and “gay” ghettos, AIDS literatures, and queer nationalities, this lively collection asks important questions at the intersections of sexuality and environmental studies. Contributors from a wide range of disciplines present a focused engagement with the critical, philosophical, and political dimensions of sex and nature. These discussions are particularly relevant to current debates in many disciplines, including environmental studies, queer theory, critical race theory, philosophy, literary criticism, and politics. As a whole, Queer Ecologies stands as a powerful corrective to views that equate “natural” with “straight” while “queer” is held to be against nature.
Available: Seattle Audubon Nature Shop (coming soon!), Seattle Public Library
Biological Exuberance
by Bruce Bagemihl, Ph.D.
Description: Homosexuality in its myriad forms has been scientifically documented in more than 450 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and other animals worldwide. Biological Exuberance is the first comprehensive account of the subject, bringing together accurate, accessible, and nonsensationalized information. Drawing upon a rich body of zoological research spanning more than two centuries, Bruce Bagemihl shows that animals engage in all types of nonreproductive sexual behavior. Sexual and gender expression in the animal world displays exuberant variety, including same-sex courtship, pair-bonding, sex, and co-parenting–even instances of lifelong homosexual bonding in species that do not have lifelong heterosexual bonding. A Publishers Weekly Best Book and one of the New York Public Library’s “25 Books to Remember” for 1999.
Available: Seattle Audubon Nature Shop (coming soon!), Seattle Public Library
Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People
by Joan Roughgard
Description: In this innovative celebration of diversity and affirmation of individuality in animals and humans, Joan Roughgarden challenges accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation. A distinguished evolutionary biologist, Roughgarden takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science—and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a fascinating discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. Evolution’s Rainbow explains how this diversity develops from the action of genes and hormones and how people come to differ from each other in all aspects of body and behavior. Roughgarden reconstructs primary science in light of feminist, gay, and transgender criticism and redefines our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Witty, playful, and daring, this book will revolutionize our understanding of sexuality.
Available: Seattle Audubon Nature Shop, Seattle Public Library
Underflows: Queer Trans Ecologies and River Justice
by Cleo Wolfe Hazard
Description: Rivers host vibrant multispecies communities in their waters and along their banks, and, according to queer-trans-feminist river scientist Cleo Wölfle Hazard, their future vitality requires centering the values of justice, sovereignty, and dynamism. At the intersection of river sciences, queer and trans theory, and environmental justice, Underflows explores river cultures and politics at five sites of water conflict and restoration in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Available: Seattle Audubon Nature Shop, Seattle Public Library
And Tango Makes Three
by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Description: At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others. But their desire for a family was the same. And with the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo got the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own.
Available: Seattle Audubon Nature Shop, Seattle Public Library
Cedar Waxwing / Barbara Houston
Event: Queering Conservation & the Outdoors
June 15, 2022
6-7 pm
Virtual discussion with Dr. Catriona Sandilands, co-editor of Queer Ecologies, and Jasmine Maisonet, founder of QPOC Hikers.
How to stop birds from hitting windows
Tens of thousands of wild birds are injured or killed each year in Seattle after colliding with windows. You can help protect them from painful injury and death. Here’s how.
A Robin’s Call
Karen B. Shea, a Nature Shop volunteer, reflects on the interconnectedness of nature and the cycle of survival and loss, after witnessing several interesting species’ behaviors on her morning walk.
Bird and Nature Advocates Needed for Comments on Seattle’s Draft 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update
The City of Seattle is accepting public comment on its 2024 draft Comprehensive Plan update. To help bird advocates feel informed and inspired to comment, we’re hosting several events to share information, provide resources, and support each other.