Pride Month saw a big influx of homosexual people joining Animalia, especially after Martha's speech told them that becoming an Animalian wouldn't force them to go straight. Many of the converted gay men became bears or other traditionally masculine animals. However, there were still plenty of lesbian converters. The variety tended to be more mixed, but there was a new subculture forming that appealed to both lesbians and trans women who didn't wish to become hermaphrodites.
The New Mexico whiptail is a seemingly natural crossbreed of the little striped whiptail and the western whiptail. And unlike many animal hybrids, it is capable of breeding, but only through parthenogenesis and can only produce females. There has been discussion about uplifting the whiptail as early as the very beginning of Animalia. However, the change in government not long afterwards to one that was considerably less tolerant put a halt on that discussion. But under the current government, things have improved more than well enough to proceed with the experiment. Of course, the process was carefully monitored.
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This wasn't the first time Dr. Stein had a government agent monitoring one of these uplifting/conversion experiments. But this is the first time this has happened under the current administration. "I had thought the president had better trust in Animalia," said Dr. Stein.
"He does, but there is a certain risk factor for this experiment," said the agent, "If the projections are accurate, this particular strain could spread exponentially."
"By that logic, the hermaphrodite strain would also be considered a high risk," said Dr. Stein, "I assure you that Animalians aren't driven to infect every human they meet. All conversions are done willingly or, at the very worst, accidentally."
"And yet you have a few criminals who've been forced to change," said the agent.
"They were given the choice between conversion and rehabilitation or spending time in prison," said Dr. Stein, "And so far, they've all become better people for their choices."
"Yes, but should this strain be used on the wrong person..." said the agent.
"We do extensive psychological profiling before we do any unusual conversions," said Dr. Stein, "In fact, we do background checks with all people converting. Nobody would want an Animalian who turned out to be... Well, I hesitate to use terms like 'evil' or 'psychotic', but let's just say 'highly anti-social'."
"Fair enough," said the agent, "But it never hurts to show a little caution."
The whiptail brought in for uplifting didn't look like much. She was brown with yellow stripes running down her body with a pale underbelly. She did have a blue throat which was part of the reason she was named Sappho, though it was mostly because it was the name of one of the most influential poets in ancient Greece. Sappho's poems celebrated 'eros between women' and she became such a lesbian symbol that the word is derived from the name of her home island, Lesbos.
Sappho was injected with a small amount of the basic Animalian virus. Her transformation quickly followed. The small lizard surged in size as her body shifted to a more humanoid build. The five toes on her forepaws grew longer until one of them formed into an opposable thumb and became hands. Her hind legs grew longer and stronger as they adjust to holding up the rest of her body. Her hips readjusted and widened to help with bipedal locomotion. Sappho's mind expanded along with her head, just in time to feel a rush of pleasure as her chest swelled out in an unfamiliar way. She looked down to see her new breasts pressing into the table she was lying on now. She reached down and groped them, letting out a moan of pleasure. "Ooh, that feels nice," she said.
"Are you feeling alright, Sappho?" asked Dr. Stein over the speaker.
The uplifted whiptail turned in the direction of the voice and asked, "Sappho?"
"It's your name now. You are now an Animalian, part of a community of other uplifted animals. Do you mind your new name?" asked Dr. Stein.
"Actually, I like it," said Sappho.
"Good," said Dr. Stein, "Because now we'd like you to meet someone who'd like to be like you."
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Sappho was briefed about this person after she was brought to the changing room. She had a vague idea of how heterosexual reproduction worked for other species, but she had no idea how complicated gender roles were for human. She rather pitied those men who wanted to have been born a woman. On the other hand, she couldn't understand why any woman would want to be a man, but there was nothing she could do about that. But hopefully she could help this poor soul become the woman they were supposed to be.
Eventually, the other person was led into the room where Sappho was waiting. He seemed like an ordinary man, maybe a little slight of frame compared to other men. When he saw her, his eyes widened in amazement. Sappho hoped that meant he was attractive by his standards. She was rather turned on by herself when she looked in the mirror. "So...you're supposed to be a lesbian lizard, right?" asked the man.
"I'm a member of an all-female species, if that's what you mean," said Sappho.
"So I won't turn into a male lizard, will I?" asked the man.
"I should hope not," said Sappho, "But I hear there are less riskier ways you could do."
"I've been offered that, but being a herm has no appeal to me," said the man, "I don't think I'd be happy unless I was a complete woman."
"Why is that?" asked Sappho.
"Well...I'm not quite familiar with you to really tell you," said the man.
"Then perhaps we should get more familiar," said Sappho, holding up one of her breasts.
The man hesitated at first but eventually put his lips onto her scaly nipples. Sappho gave a pleasant moan as she felt her milk being drained. Mammals definitely have a good thing going on. This was definitely something she could get used to.
Eventually, the man pulled away and Sappho could see why. Brown and yellow scales were starting to appear on his face and his throat was starting to turn blue. He watched his fingers in fascination as his fingernails became short claws. He soon realized he needed to remove his shoes before his feet changed.
Sappho watched his transformation with interest. She was starting to notice his shoulders were getting narrower and his hips seemed to be growing out, but she didn't want to give him false hope just yet. But then the man gave a gasp and pulled up his shirt. His chest was already covering with scales and seemed even slimmer. But his nipples were still plainly visible and as Sappho watched, the flesh behind them started to push out. "It's working," he said, his voice cracking higher as tears of joys well up his eyes, "I'm becoming a woman."
"Let's make sure," said Sappho before pulling down his looser pants. That gave enough room for the growing tale. Between his legs was a rather small penis and pair of testicles. Sappho wasn't sure if they were that small before, but they were obviously shrinking now. She watched with growing excitement as the testicles shrank down and retreated into the groin, leaving a slit behind. The penis also dwindled until it became a clitoris. "Congratulations, you're officially a woman now," said Sappho.
"Am I really?" she asked, her voice getting higher and more feminine.
"As far as I can see. Have you got a new name for yourself?" asked Sappho.
"I want to be called Susan," she said as her face pushed out more into a lizard's muzzle.
"Then will you let me be the first to taste the new you?" asked Sappho.
"It would be an honor," said Susan before she let out a gasp as Sappho started licking her clit. After that, Sappho became even friskier as Susan became more womanly and reptilian. Susan experienced several orgasms as she completed her transformation and was sure to repay the favor to Sappho several times over.
Eventually, the two lesbian lizards laid down to rest. They were nearly identical except that Susan retained her human hair. She brushed her hair and said, "I wonder if I should get it grow out."
"You can do what you want with it," said Sappho, "Though I might get jealous if you do."
"I don't know how I can ever repay you for this," said Susan.
"I was more than happy to help," said Sappho, "And I'm ready to help any other sisters who want to be reborn."
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"I don't think we need to worry about them building an army to try and take over the world," said Dr. Stein dryly after Susan's conversion was review.
"Well, taking over the world may be an exaggeration," admitted the agent, "But they're parthenogenic. Now they'll start laying their own eggs and overpopulate us."
"They're lizards, not rabbits," said Dr. Stein, "They won't lay that many eggs at a time. In any case, it takes six months for them to have their babies. Three months where they carry the eggs inside them and the eggs hatch three months after they're laid. They'll still age at the same rate as humans unless given a second dose, so I don't think they'll be overcrowding us any time soon."
"That seems to be true. Though some people may say there's enough existing opportunity for them to become a problem," said the agent.
"Then those people don't really know Animalians and I wouldn't bother listening to what they were saying," said Dr. Stein.
However, the agent was somewhat right about one thing. There was a small population boom. Several lesbians and trans women opted to become whiptails. Though no one was going to be laying eggs soon, it could get a bit crowded. Talk eventually arose about the lesbian lizards getting one of the Mediterranean colonies, though that was mostly speculation. There was a lot more to consider before putting actual planning into it first.