It Takes Two to Have a Tango

This week, we're reading And Tango Makes Three, which is a true story about Roy and Silo, two male penguins who adopted a third penguin, Tango.

Roy and Silo actually attempted to hatch a rock first.  Then, when there was a different penguin couple who couldn't hatch their egg, the keepers gave the egg to Roy & Silo, bringing about Tango

Aren't they such a cute, happy family?

Now, of course, there's a lot of controversy surrounding the Trio.  The gay community uses them as a symbol for homosexuality happening in nature, therefore making it a natural thing in humans too.

However, Roy and Silo drifted apart, and Silo mated with a female penguin named Scrappy in 2005.  This has made them a target for a lot of hard core conservative Christians, saying that it's not natural, which is why the two drifted apart.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.  Tango is actually in a relationship with another female penguin and they all live happily at the New York City Central Park Zoo.  Roy and Silo are about 25 years old (pretty old, considering the life expectancy is around 30.)

Roy and Silo were not the first same sex couple (that goes to Wendell & Cass of the NY Aquarium), and they won't be the last.  Same sex couples are actually fairly common in penguins.