Birds do it.

I just got my September 27 Advocate in the mail. I was so excited when I read the story about the gay swans [Report, "Outside the Birdcage"]. It's about time people knew that humans are not the only ones that can be gay.

I have been an exotic-bird breeder for over 22 years. I deal mostly with parrots, the smartest bird family in the bird world. Over the years I have bred hundreds of parrots and have seen their sexual behaviors. I think your readers would be very surprised to find just how common homosexuality is among birds. For example, some of the most common birds--like the parakeets, lovebirds, and cockatiels that anyone can get at their local pet store--are some of the gayest birds I know. It's not unusual for these birds of the same sex to be in love with each other, even if birds of the opposite sex are around. I have done some studies of my own by separating gay birds and setting them up for breeding with the opposite sex; often they refuse to breed and don't show any interest in the opposite sex. I've even tried a community flight where there are many birds of the same species and many members of the opposite sex to choose from, and the gay birds still refuse to pair up with straight birds. Female gay birds will often nest together and lay eggs together--though, of course, no chicks will hatch. I've seen gay male birds having sex with each other many times, and some even build nests together to sleep in. Now if we can only educate the straight world, perhaps they won't be so closed-minded.

ANTHONY KAO Los Angeles, Calif.

Acknowledgment

The Advocate owes a debt of gratitude to the HIV Stops With Me campaign, spearheaded by Les Pappas and Better World Advertising of San Francisco, for its assistance in our September 27 cover story "Kicking Crystal." Story subjects Emory Etheridge, Alejandro Diesta, and John Motter have all appeared in HIV Stops With Me public service ads in nine cities nationwide. For more information go to www.hivstopswithme.org.