Queer Nature Photography Awards 2026
"Where it is Safe"
Ronnie Steinitz
"Where it is Safe"
Two male chimpanzees share a quiet moment of trust: one resting, the other offering care through gentle grooming. In chimpanzee societies, these same-sex bonds are foundational, and are built over years through touch, alliance, and reciprocity. Male-male relationships are a defining feature of their social system, unusually strong in their intensity, longevity, and importance compared to many other mammals. Rather than being purely competitive, male chimpanzee life depends on enduring trust that is built slowly and maintained through small, consistent acts of care.
But this safety is limited to the forest. I captured this tender moment as a wildlife biologist working in Uganda, where same-sex relationships are stigmatized, criminalized, and are even punishable by death. For years, I carried out research in an environment where I had to constantly manage my own visibility. Alongside collecting data and samples and managing a team of local student interns and research assistants, I was also navigating a landscape of personal risk: controlling what I revealed, how I presented myself, and when it was safe to call home to the person I love. In that context, witnessing the ease and normalcy of these bonds in chimpanzees is difficult to ignore. This contrast goes unnoticed for most other researchers in my field, but I felt it every second of every day. In the forest, such relationships simply exist without prejudice.
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About the Photographer
Name: Ronnie Steinitz
Age: 39
Nationality: United States, California
How does your identity influence your work?
Being queer has taught me to pay attention to the stories that challenge the norm. It has made me more aware of how our understanding of nature is shaped by cultural expectations, and made me more committed to observing animals on their own terms rather than asking them to fit our narratives.
What message do you hope to convey with your work about the intersection of queerness and biodiversity in nature?
Nature rarely conforms to the categories we create for it. Diversity in behavior, relationships, and reproductive strategies is a fundamental feature of the living world. I hope my work encourages people to approach both the natural world and one another with greater curiosity and fewer assumptions.
What do you think is the importance of highlighting diversity in both nature and society, and how can photography play a role in this?
Photography has the power to make people pause and look more closely. By revealing the richness and complexity of life, it can challenge assumptions, foster empathy, and remind us that diversity is not an exception in nature but one of its defining characteristics.
What is your favorite example of queerness in nature?
So many to choose from! My favorite is the family dynamics of marmosets, small primates native to Latin America. One female mates with multiple males, and the males cooperate to care for the offspring together. Polyandry and cooperative infant care are rare among mammals, so marmosets are one of the most remarkable examples of family diversity in nature!
A note from the Narwhal Rainbow Alliance
Same-sex intimacy is a vital social mechanism for our closest living evolutionary relatives, Chimpanzees. Rather than being random, they use these behaviors as a "social lubricant" to de-escalate tension, build trust, and maintain alliances within their complex social hierarchies. More "gender-fluid" behaviours have also been observed. Where female chimps express behaviours often more associated with males. Tragically, chimpanzees are endangered due to habitat destruction, poaching, and disease. Protecting them requires supporting forest conservation, anti-poaching patrols, and community-led habitat preservation. We recognise the challenges for researchers in some countries to document ‘queer’’ behaviours. We want to stress that safety for all involved in this field is a big concern for us.
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) – Endangered 🔴
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