The Antwerp Zoo claims to have the world’s first lesbian penguin couple. The two female birds are rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome). Zoos in America, Sweden and Germany are also reported to have male homosexual couples that build a nest together, but Antwerp has the only female couple to do so. The birds have been adopted by Casa Rosa, a gay organisation. Yesterday the council of the province of East Flanders discussed the matter. Casa Rosa is being subsidised by the province, which prompted Mark Joris, a representative of the conservative Vlaams Belang party, to question the adoption. “Everyone is free to do silly things with private money, but government money should not be used to adopt penguins,” he said. The provincial authorities, however, ruled that subsidized organisations can use the money to adopt animals. Casa Rosa will pay the cost of feeding the two birds for the coming year.