Australia's Famous Gay Penguins Have a New Egg to Hatch

While the Trump administration may be making it hard for gay couples to adopt, gay Australian penguins are thriving.

Sphen and Magic, a same-sex penguin pair over at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium, have been given a new egg to try to hatch and raise as their own.

The two lovebirds have been together for almost two years, and hatched their first adopted egg back in October 2018. The resulting chick was named Sphengic, and staff reported that the two dads have done an amazing job raising her.

So when the couple started putting together pebbles to build a new nest this breeding season, the folks at the aquarium didn’t hesitate to find them a new egg to hopefully raise as their own.

“They have the neatest and largest nest in the colony and when we noticed that another couple  where struggling to incubate two eggs at the same time, we made the decision to foster the second egg to the power couple of the colony,” said penguin supervisor Tish Hannan.

Penguins continue to be the unofficial mascots of the gay community, with more and more zoos and aquariums reporting gay penguins that have paired off into longterm mates.

The London Zoo threw a mini Pride event for their famed gay penguins, Ronnie and Reggie, over the summer. And a fantastic video in which two committed gay penguins get married in a very touching ceremony went viral earlier this year.

But Sphen and Magic have the most cred when it comes to gay penguins over in Australia, even getting a profile in The New York Times about their little family.

As to whether that family is about to expand or not, it remains to be seen, as workers aren’t positive their new egg is fertile. But we’re all rooting for them.