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Why I Think Zebras Are Gay Culture

Kayla Glennon
Victoria Cooke
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Geneseo chapter.

Zebras are odd animals. Many people view them as close relatives to horses, but in actuality they aren’t domesticated and are left in the wild for the most part. The truth is, they are closer to donkeys. Zebras are commonly identified by their black and white stripes. They are unique, and despite their black and white coloring which connects them to heterosexuality, I claim them as gay culture.

 

It’s very common to see edits of zebra stripes with rainbow colors.  This could just be due to  the desire to turn the dull black and white into something more colorful, but from a deeper human perspective, it’s meant to show that anyone can bring out their true gay colors.

 

 

This phenomenon is replicated throughout popular culture in many ways. Not just through drawings or edits, but also through gum marketing.

 

 

Fruit Stripes gum was invented in 1969, and has a zebra as its mascot. Stripes and colors are printed on the gum, which again, connects rainbows, and therefore gayness, to zebras. Many of the young people today who very free and open about themselves and their gay identities were born in the 90’s. Coincidentally, Fruit Stripes gum was popular in the 90’s and was often mentioned in popular culture around this time. I’m not saying there’s causation per say, but there’s definitely correlation.  Again, this connects the idea of being gay with zebras.

 

As with many animals in nature, zebras can most certainly be gay. This list of mammals that display homosexual behavior includes the mountain zebra. Some even claim that the zebra, Marty, was in love with the lion, Alex, from the 2005 film Madagascar. This is just another example out the multiple of instances that connect zebras to homosexuality.

 

Lastly, I grew up loving zebras and no one is attempting to take that away from me, but they do try to tell me it’s a part of straight culture. This is incorrect. My final claim as to why zebras are gay culture is simply that I am gay and I’ve liked zebras since I was five years old.

 

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Kayla Glennon

Geneseo '21

Kayla is a junior English major who is optimistic but enjoys exploring lots of emotions, not just ignoring the "bad" ones. They love writing silly things but also being serious, because there are a lot of things that matter and need to be talked about, but giving yourself a break is important too. They love writing about literature but also coming up with ideas for stories of their own. Kayla is constantly just trying to be themself and trying to be around people that make them happy.
Victoria Cooke

Geneseo '20

Victoria Cooke is a Senior History and Adolescence Education major with a Women's and Gender Studies minor at SUNY Geneseo. Apart from being an editor and the founder of Her Campus at Geneseo, she is also the co-president of Voices for Planned Parenthood and a Curator for TEDxSUNYGeneseo. Her passions include feminism, reading, advocating for social justice, and crafting. In the future, she hopes to inspire the next generation of history nerds and activists.