Channel Islands Pride launches ‘Queer Nature Trail’ celebrating LGBTQ+ diversity in the animal kingdom

Channel Islands Pride is inviting islanders to discover nature's queer side with the launch of a new woodland trail highlighting same-sex relationships, gender diversity and fluidity across the natural world.

The Queer Nature Trail, supported by CSC, will offer an alternative route to Pride Village during this year's Channel Islands Pride celebrations in Guernsey, giving people a quieter journey through woodland and coastal paths while exploring examples of LGBTQ+ behaviours found in nature.

The trail, which opens as part of Pride on Saturday, 12 September, begins near the German Cemetery War Memorial at Fort George and winds through Bluebell Woods before descending the Cow Horn Steps to the Pride Village at La Vallette Bathing Pools.

Along the route, walkers will discover information about the more than 1,500 animal species in which same-sex sexual behaviour has been documented. Examples featured include same-sex penguin couples that raise chicks together, bottlenose dolphins that form long-term same-sex partnerships, clownfish that can change sex, and butterflies born with both male and female characteristics.

Organisers say the trail is designed to challenge claims that LGBTQ+ identities are somehow "unnatural" by showcasing the diversity that exists throughout the natural world.

Ellie Jones, CEO of Liberate and director of Channel Islands Pride, said: "We spend an extraordinary amount of time hearing that LGBTQ+ people are somehow 'unnatural', when nature itself appears to have missed that memo completely.

"Once you start looking, the natural world is gloriously queer. Animals have same-sex relationships, fish change sex, plants switch reproductive roles and nature generally refuses to fit into the tidy little boxes humans like to create.

"The Queer Nature Trail is a fun way of exploring some of that while giving people another way to make their journey to Pride."

The initiative forms part of Channel Islands Pride's "Choose Your Journey" theme, which aims to provide different ways for people to participate in the annual celebration.

While thousands are expected to join the main Pride March through St Peter Port, organisers hope the trail will appeal to those who prefer a calmer experience or want to engage with Pride at their own pace.

The main Pride March will assemble at Market Square from 1pm before setting off at 2pm. The procession will travel via the Rainbow Steps, Fountain Street and the seafront before arriving at La Vallette Bathing Pools.

Organisers have warned that the march is expected to attract several thousand participants and have asked non-attendees to avoid travelling along the Town seafront between 2pm and 3pm where possible.

"If you're coming to Pride, come and join us – we'd love to have you," Jones said.

"But if you're just trying to get from one end of Town to the other at 2.30pm, we'd strongly recommend finding another route.

"There will be a few thousand people, a samba band and a 50-metre rainbow flag making their way along the seafront, and they are not particularly easy to overtake."