Behold: Your Perfect Gay Pets!
We asked about your queer children and y’all came through with flying colors. Plus: some bonus history!
At the start of this Pride Month—better known around these parts as Gay Animal Month—Jack decided that it was the perfect time to turn our gaze outward, toward you, dear readers. More specifically, toward your LGBTQ+ animals.
In that post, Jack reported on gender fluid cats, a trans turtle, and a gay dog, just to name a few. But it wasn’t enough! We wanted more, so we asked, and boy did you all deliver.
Before we start, I wanted to give a face and name to my aforementioned asexual/“possibly gay” boy, Herbert. He’s featured above in one of his favorite napping spots, preparing to dream either about other male cats, or a different species entirely, or maybe just platonic love! Maybe nothing at all! I don’t know and I don’t care, I’m obsessed with him in any case. He’s the most soulful creature I’ve ever met and I am so deeply attached to him that I can actually sense it hours before he vomits up a hairball. That’s motherhood, baby.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s wave the Pride flag with the kind of gusto necessary to honor the most precious gay creatures on planet earth. And thanks to all those who wrote in!
From Phoebe Grandi, meet Wonton—a cat who loves the Tony Awards and has a notable attachment to an older man! Do with that with you will:
“Okay this is Wonton, he’s my brother's cat who is very beautiful and loves to be told that he's beautiful and knows he's incredibly beautiful. He (until a few months ago) lived in my parents' very spacious mountain home in Utah where he would go anywhere he wanted and be given anything he wanted whenever he meowed his soft meow. He sometimes tried to run out of the house but then ran right back in because he knows his life of luxury. He recently downsized into a one-bedroom apartment with my brother and has been very vocally upset about it. One time he was set up on a date with an older lady cat (Trinket) and was NOT into it, but occasionally stays at a house with an older boy cat (Scamp) and is very visibly upset when he has to leave him. He is two years old and would definitely wear a tux everywhere if he could, and also did watch the 2025 Tonys with more interest than anyone else in my family.”
Elsie Carson-Holt introduced us to Westley, who is nine years old, likes long walks, and is “extremely food motivated” (relatable).
Elsie writes, “In terms of gayness, my mom just declared him LGBTQ+ a few years ago when she bought the rainbow collar. In my mind, he's somewhat of like an elderly gay gentleman, though. Like Ian McKellen adjacent. But his sexuality wasn’t discussed until my mom saw the collar.”
Ian McKellen adjacent!!!
We didn’t just hear about perfect LGBTQ+ animals in our inbox, some of you also reached out on socials, like Dr. KFA who told us about a hen who refused to be cooped in by societal expectations when it came to behavior or socialization norms. What a legend:
LeeB introduced us to GUMBO, making be furious that it’s impossible hug through a photograph.
Meanwhile Avery reached out in the comments of Jack’s previous post to tell us about a fierce ally that honestly we could all learn some lessons from!
According to Avery: “One of the last times my mother was ever allowed inside my home she said a bunch of transphobic shit to me and my cat, perfectly on cue, bit her. He is probably straight, but is, we can all agree, very much an ally. Give him a float for pride!!”
Incredible. Maybe we need to compile a list of socialist cats….
Before I get too distracted, we also have some iconic DMs about animals that don’t leave their sexuality up for interpretation. They are expressing themselves very clearly in fact:
Like I said!
My cat daddy friend Matt also shared this about two of his boys, Jack and Milton:
“Jack had some sort of thing going on with Milton. He suckled Milton daily until the last few weeks of his life, which came across as more of a motherly thing(?) but also he’d not infrequently stalk/slink up to him and try to fuck him. I don’t think he ever found success in his endeavors but damn it if he didn’t give it his all.”
No comment on that last point but hey, look at these two!!
If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
And finally, let’s meet another Jack, this one a dog. From our correspondent Darby:
“Jack is gay and really into human men, which sucks for him because he has two moms. He prefers cat toys. At the dog park, he throws his backside at large male dogs to invite mounting. In an alternate universe, he’d be a naggy teacher’s pet at a progressive Catholic school where he’d never graduate the sixth grade.”
No better way to celebrate Pride Month, honestly. If you’re looking for more LGBTQ+ pets, there’s a ton more on Reddit, in the rest of the animal kingdom, and throughout historical lore. Jack tipped me off to the story of the Ladies of Llangollen, a pair of Irish lesbians (seemingly) who lived together and had a series of dogs all named Sappho. A name does not a queer animal make, but you never know! Here are the ladies with one of their Sapphos:
When I asked many of my friends and loved ones if they had LGBTQ+ animals, most replied with regret that their animals were hetero, which I understand. Luckily, we can all love and celebrate these gay pets together, whether we’re their keepers or not. And during a Pride Month when the diabolical Supreme Court ruled to uphold a Tennessee law outlawing gender-affirming care for trans youth, the more love and community and support we can foster, the better. Fuck those bastards and their draconian decisions, now and forever.
In July, we’ll return to our regular Bird of the Week programming. Got one to recommend? Get in touch at hello@discourseblog.com.
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