If you read blogs, there’s a good chance that you’re a nerd. If you’re a nerd, there is an even greater chance that you know of or have taken the controls of Samus Aran, a video game character from the Metroid series.

Aran fights aliens, shoots guns, and is one of the gaming industry’s most prolific characters, and one of its few female icons.

At the end of the first Metroid game, released in the US back in 1987, it was revealed that Aran was a female, a shocking and important event in video game history (the game had you playing with the character in full armor, hiding any gender traits, until the very end when she removes her helmet).

Now that I’ve fully indulged my nerdom, take a look at this post from Timothy McSweeney’s blog that capitalizes on Aran’s status by envisioning her as a lesbian with something to say about marriage equality.

It’s a great effort to bring an industry into the debate that has been left off to the side, despite its influence and prominence among today’s youth.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Letorz.