Festival of Dangerous Ideas: Professor describes bestiality as one of society’s ‘last taboos’

A renowned professor who plans to speak about bestiality at an upcoming Sydney festival has described sex with animals as one of society’s ‘last taboos’.

Historian and author Joanna Bourke plans to discuss the ethics behind humans loving animals at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI) on September 18.

The festival, to be held at Carriageworks in inner-city suburb Redfern next month, has been touted as Australia’s original disruptive festival with invited speakers tasked with ‘holding uncomfortable ideas up to the light’.

The bio for Ms Bourke’s controversial session states that while bestiality is ‘generally’ regarded as abhorrent, the subject is still depicted in a number of books, films, plays, paintings and photographs.

The historian will present a modern history of sex between humans and animals and will invite audience members to look at the ‘changing meanings’ of bestiality and zoophilia and the ethics of animal loving.

‘It is only in very recent years that some people have begun to undermine the absolute prohibition on zoosexuality,’ the speaker is quoted on the website.

‘Are their arguments dangerous, perverted or simply wrongheaded?’

The session is advertised for people aged 16 years and over and warns there may be a discussion of adult themes.

Outraged Australians took to social media to lash festival organisers for allowing a presentation they argued was intellectualising animal abuse.

‘This is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen and an absolute disgrace that you are platforming this horror,’ one woman wrote.

‘Intellectualising about the abuse of animals isn’t edgy or cool. It IS abhorrent and anyone who attends this event is an immoral c***,’ another said. 

Others took to Twitter to share their thoughts with the author and event organisers.  

‘This is not about ‘loving animals.’ If you’re going to be heinous at least be honest. This is about abusing animals. Shame on anyone involved in this session,’ one said. 

‘They are conflating having sex with animals with loving them. The first is not only unethical it is illegal,’ they tweeted. 

‘Nope – it is not edgy or cool to intellectualise about abusing animals. ‘It’s not an ‘uncomfortable idea’ that needs a discussion space. What’s next on the agenda? Child abuse?’ another said. 

2GB Radio’s Ben Fordham on Thursday morning said he had forwarded the link to the event to the office of the NSW Minister of the Arts, Ben Franklin.

‘Can I just make this point, animals don’t have a choice in the matter,’ he said.

‘So in a day and age when we focus on the word ‘consent’, I don’t know what the point is of talking about this subject, when at the beginning and the end of the argument, you are talking about an issue of consent, and animals being abused.’

Festival organisers acknowledged the presentation handled a ‘sensitive topic’ in response to social media backlash.

‘For more than ten years, the role of the Festival has been to hold space for discussion of ideas that are uncomfortable, and yes sometimes taboo, for the benefit of those interested in and affected by a topic,’ the statement read.

‘FODI does not endorse criminal acts, nor does the Festival support any act of harm towards any person or animal.’

Animal Justice Party Member of NSW Parliament Emma Hurst told Daily Mail Australia she was concerened about the professor’s comments.

‘Bestiality is the sexual abuse of animals. While I haven’t seen the full talk being proposed for the FODI, it is highly concerning that the blurb mentions the ‘love’ of animals. Animal abuse is not love,’ she said. 

‘Many animals suffer trauma and some die from acts of bestiality – this is a grotesque form of animal abuse. We must recognise that people who harm animals are a risk to the broader community. 

‘While conversations on these issues are important, they shouldn’t be considered a form of entertainment and must recognise the gravity of the concerns.’

In 2020, Ms Bourke published a book titled ‘Loving Animals: On Bestiality, Zoophilia and Post-Human Love’ which appears to have inspired her festival presentation.

The historian undertook her Doctor of Philosophy degree at the Australian National University and has held academic posts at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Berkbeck and the University of London and has written several books.

It comes as a man in Sydney’s west was charged with multiple child abuse and bestiality offences on Tuesday after police received a tipoff from an American team tasked with tracking alleged paedophiles.

They located and seized a mobile phone which later revealed files allegedly containing child abuse material, highly explicit conversations about abusing children, and bestiality material, which police will allege was produced by the man.

As a result of the charges, 19 dogs that had allegedly been kept in cruel conditions, were also removed from the property.