
Last November, Chase Barnes, a gay farmer south of Kansas City, had a Thanksgiving he’ll never forget.
And it wasn’t the turkey he’ll remember.
Related
Instead, it’s a throuple of other birds, who turned the mild-mannered veterinarian and his menagerie into social media stars.
“Sit down. I have to tell you about a bisexual pigeon and all of the drama that he has brought to my barn,” Barnes said in a video posted to Instagram.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
Barnes held up a handsome almond-colored Italian Owl pigeon.
“Our story starts with this king.”
The bird, Barnes said, was paired with a red one that Barnes and his partner Zach thought was a girl.
“The two bonded, paired. And just never laid eggs. But, when you gave them babies, they would raise them. Turns out the red is a male.”
Barnes explained that Mr. Almond Pigeon was then paired with another hen, “and they have two babies that they are raising.”
“What gets funny is, that the almond and this male and his current wife are all raising the two babies together. They’re in a little pigeon throuple.”
“I’ve never seen it before,” said the longtime birdwatcher. “It’s the craziest thing.”
The bisexual bird breakdown went viral, surprising Barnes and Zach with the sudden public interest in their animal husbandry, and the two husbands who are pigeons.
The pair and their birds even landed in People magazine.
About the pigeon polycule, Barnes told the Kansas City Star, “You can have guesses,” but “pigeons don’t tell you who they are until they’re ready.”
“You really don’t know the gender of a pigeon until it either starts cooing and strutting and acting like a male performing, or until it lays an egg. When they’ve paired and they’ve raised babies together, you pretty well know.”
What was surprising was the unique threesome doing the raising.
But wait, there was more same-sex cooing to come.
In January, Barnes posted that two more male pigeons had bonded in the barn.
“It’s happened again! Our barn may as well be Studio 54,” the farmer told his followers.
“I didn’t know the gay agenda was to turn my pigeons gay, but here we are. I must have missed that meeting.”
Barnes held up an unlikely pair: “disheveled and moulty” Modena, and his anonymous show bird companion.
“They’re like, ‘We’re in love’,” Barnes quoted the couple, like a Missouri Dr. Doolittle.
“What’s going on guys? Why is this my life right now? The water’s turning the birds gay.”
Of the backyard bird drama that Barnes and Zach are living with, the farmer said, “It’s something kind of whimsical that you can look at when everything else seems a little bit ridiculous.”
He added for his followers: “I will need names for the gay pigeon, the bisexual pigeon, the bisexual pigeon’s wife, the homewrecker and the cheater.”
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.