It has been over a year, just barely, since I made my first Bitmob post. While it was never featured on the front page beyond a Spotlight, it is still one of my most popular articles. Perhaps its subject matter is the reason for that.

That article, Funky Kong: Proud Ape, Ammunitions Expert, Homosexual, was something I had posted elsewhere on the Internet, but the original site went belly-up, so I tried it at Bitmob. That would lead to an entire series of satirical articles, and the issue of sexuality and gaming was a common theme.

In the fictional interview, the message was fairly ham-fisted for satire, but matters of sexual orientation equality are always worth a step on the old soap box.

I am a happily married heterosexual man, but through experience, I've discovered that one's own sexual orientation should not have an effect on equality advocacy. For me it comes down to this: If you are against equal rights, you feel that my college roommate, my sister-in-law, and 10% (give or take) of the population are less human than you.

I refute any subtlety that the prejudice want to super-impose on their views against homosexual marriage and other related issues. "It's about religion, it's about family," is a round-about way of saying "I hate fags." It's bullshit, and everyone needs to be called on it.

A few years back, I appeared on a local radio morning show on the CBC (our version of NPR), where I had a debate with the mayor of Gander, Newfoundland (my hometown), who had turned in his marriage commissionaire's license because he did not want to have to marry homosexuals. There's a reason why he's the mayor and I'm just a guy....so needless to say he spoke circles around me in a very public way. The debate probably shoulnd't have been more civilized than a shouting match, but that's how it went down...although I did get my point across, more or less. Sometimes I wish I had those 20 minutes back, knowing what I know now, but at least I stood up for what I felt was right.

The Funky Kong article was a way that I could truly express what I felt about the issue of sexual orientation equality. Using the fairly harmless and mildly obscure video game character, I found a muse. I wanted to show that homosexuals are absolutely normal, that they are not only "functional" in society, but necessary. I felt the bizarrely-complete mythology of Donkey Kong was a fun world world in which to say it.

Homosexual relationships are wonderful, tumultuous, rewarding, terrible, and life-altering. Much like heterosexual relationships. Imagine that. I think it is an awful thing that this needs to be pointed out in this day and age. I hope for a time when sexual orientation equality is not only something we accept, but something we take for granted, no questions asked.

In Canada, things are better -- if not perfect. My sister-in-law has a beautiful wife and son. My college roommate has openly discussed his desire for a family, without any mention of legal issues. But the Mayor of Gander still won't marry homosexuals, and our sitting federal government will not shut up about marriage rights, even though we've been allowing gay couples to marry for some time.

Someday we'll get there, and if Funky Kong helped anyone, gay, straight, or prefer not to say, we'll it did some good.