Welcome to the first episode of Wildlight! Today, I'm diving into the wild world of queer ecology - a field that challenges the outdated, heteronormative narratives in science and conservation. I break down how queerness shows up across species, from same-sex pairings to animals that change sex or defy binary categories altogether. We’ll talk about why this matters in conservation, how homophobic assumptions were falsely baked into ecological science, and what the research actually says about the genetics, evolution, and function of queer behavior in the wild. This is our invitation to rethink what’s “natural.” 🌿🏳️‍🌈

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