If you’re like us, you never tire of the stories of happy gay penguin couples around the world, whether they’re living the blissful child-free life or taking on the challenges of parenthood.
In the last few years alone, we’ve been smitten by Stan and Olli, King penguins who snubbed the Berlin Zoo’s breeding program and were sent to a zoo in Hamburg where another gay penguin couple, Juan and Carlos, had already shacked up.
And we couldn’t help but root for Sphen and Magic, who successfully fostered an egg they were given by zookeepers at Australia’s Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. Then, just a few months ago, Skipper and Ping at the Berlin Zoo got the disappointing news that their egg wasn’t fertilized after much time spent incubating it. (Not to worry — they'll get the chance to become parents again, zookeepers promise.)
Now, a new same-sex penguin couple is taking the world by storm. HuffPost reported that the couple, a pair of African penguins residing at a zoo in the Netherlands, snatched an egg from a heterosexual penguin couple with the hope of raising it as their own. (Don’t feel bad about the kidnapping — that couple has already produced a new egg).
While it’s not clear whether the egg they stole was fertilized, one thing is for sure: This fabulous couple is taking their hatching duties very seriously.
“The gay couple are looking after the egg very well and take turns in keeping it warm,” zookeeper Marc Belt told DutchNews.
Gay penguins, both in captivity and in the wild, are not at all uncommon. Stories of gay penguins pairing up and starting families never fail to inspire and delight us, especially considering the ongoing global fight for gay rights, including same-sex marriage and adoption.
In Germany, where Stan and Olli live, full marital and adoption rights weren’t signed into law until June 2017. In the Netherlands on the other hand, where our hopeful dad duo is doing their best with the stolen egg, gay rights are some of the most progressive in the world — in fact, the Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001.
Let’s hope our gay counterparts in the animal kingdom continue to serve as a reminder of the beauty of living true to yourself and always being in pursuit of having it all!
