'Gay' is gone for penguins

'And Tango Makes Three' book about homosexual male penguins who name their chick Tango because 'It takes two to make a Tango.'

Two male penguins described by observers at the San Francisco Zoo as "gay" because they nested together have been broken up by a "chick," according to a new report.

The San Francisco Examiner reported "Linda," a female penguin, appeared on the scene and has been keeping house with "Harry," one of the two males in the "Harry and Pepper" story.

The newspaper reported the "Harry and Pepper" saga began in 2003 when they were adolescents. They nested together, with Harry gathering grass and Pepper arranging it in a burrow.

Zookeepers told the newspaper last year the two were allowed to incubate and hatch an egg laid by another penguin.

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"Of all of the parents that year, they were the best," zookeeper Anthony Brown told the newspaper. "They took very good care of their chick."

But now there's been a change: Linda and Harry have paired up. She had been nesting with "Fig" after Fig's partner passed away. When Fig recently died, it took only weeks for Harry to be seen in Fig's burrow with Linda, Brown told the newspaper.

He reported there then was a confrontation, with Harry attacking Pepper until they had to be separated. Now observers are waiting to see what's next.

"It's molting season in late July and early August, and around that time we see couples getting shaken up," Brown said. "It'll be interesting to see if Harry spends any of that time with Pepper."

Among the comments on the newspaper's forum page, as well as a comment page for a related United Press report:

• That home wrecking harlot!!!
• Who knew that penguins had such drama! I say once a cheat always a cheat... don't take him back Pepper! I feel bad for the children. Hahaha
• Who received custody of the chicks? Are they wards of the state?
• You've got to be kidding me, San Francisco! This non-sense of 'gay penguins' was categorically denied by scientists who have studied penguins for 40 years. Enough with this.

The idea of "gay" penguins also is the subject of a children's book approved as mandatory homosexual curriculum by the Alameda County Board of Education in the Oakland area.

The curriculum and training are estimated to cost $8,000.

Parents will not be given an opportunity to opt out of lessons that go against their religious beliefs. Some parents are threatening to sue the school board and mount a recall. Opponents presented a petition with 468 signatures from people who don't want the homosexual lessons in the curriculum.

Second grade students will read about two homosexual penguins that raise a young chick in the book "And Tango Makes Three" by J. Richardson and P. Parnell.

The two male penguins, Roy and Silo, are described as being "a little bit different."

"They didn't spend much time with the girl penguins, and the girl penguins didn't spend much time with them," the text states.

When the male penguins nurture an egg, it soon hatches. "We'll call her Tango," the book states, "because it takes two to make a Tango."

The book declares, "Tango was the very first penguin in the zoo to have two daddies."