"A fact (derived from the Latin factum, see below) is something that has really occurred or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability, that is whether it can be proven to correspond to experience. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable experiments."
Ok so facts are things that can be verified.
I was watching a fascinating presentation given by Christopher Ryan about human sexuality. If you have a spare hour, I highly recommend it, it's here.
The talk is primarily about the study of Chimps and Bonobo's and how this relates to human sexuality. To be clear, the Chimp and Bonobo are more similar to Human Beings from a DNA perspective than an African Elephant is to an Indian Elephant. That's close.
He makes very interesting observations about monogamy and the very different and often opposite communities in which they operate and live. This is interesting as we sit between them and have an equal distance from a Chimpanzee as we do to a Bonobo - even though it may appear that historically we are taught that we have been more Chimpanzee influenced. You'll know what I mean if you watch it.
He made two very interesting points about homosexuality.
1. Homosexuality is only confusing for people when sexual interactions are about procreation. Interestingly the human sexual interactions ratio to child birth is likely to be in excess of 1000:1. That's at best 0.1% of the time. Therefore 0.1% of the time homo sapiens are having sex to have a child. The other 99.9% of the time sex is about cultivating the complex social relationships we have with others.
Compare this to a Gorilla for example and the equation is 10-12:1. Therefore sexual activity in humans is not primarily about procreation as the Vatican might like us to think and therefore there is no mystery to homosexuality (in fact you could almost argue it's got very little to do with procreation at all).
2. Homosexuality can be observed routinely in over 450 animal species. Therefore even if you are a Gorilla with a 10:1 ratio of sexual acts to child birth, it is still natural for there to be homosexual activity (what about the other 9 times eh?).
You may not believe it because of religious dogma or because of arrogance or blind hatred, but homosexuality is natural and these two pieces of evidence alone are enough for it to be considered a FACT.
And in case you are wondering - yes both Chimpanzee and Bonobo's both are observed to routinely display homosexual acts. Bonobo's are almost entirely considered bisexual as half of their sexual acts are generally with the same sex.
