Why Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie Supports Marriage Equality

Over at the Daily Beast, the frontman for band Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Gibbard, explained why he supports same-sex marriage. Again, as so many people have tried to explain the importance of visibility, it's because of a personal connection: Gibbard's gay sister.

He and his parents thought that his sister would never be able to celebrate her relationship the way heterosexual couples can. So when she did get married in Seattle, they were overwhelmed by the ceremony.
As he writes:

"When my sister got married, it was everything that my parents--and I--could have ever expected from a wedding ceremony, and more.

It was at Capitol Hill out here in Seattle. My sister was in this beautiful dress and her wife was wearing this great suit. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I was tasked with playing a few songs during the wedding and I just couldn't get through it. I was bawling. It was just too much joy."

Gibbard is hoping that Washington can push through Referendum 74 (R-74), which would approve the February 2012 bill that legalizes same-sex marriage in the state.

As he explains: "If Washington State can pass this referendum, we'd be the first state to pass gay marriage by a popular vote. The opposition is very strong but the thing that gives me hope for the future is that marriage equality is polling at about 80 percent among people under the age of 25... I would just feel so much pride for my state if we could pass it by a popular vote and show the rest of the country that this is the direction we are going in."

What with Brad Pitt's donation announcement yesterday and the high-profile donations by Amazon's Jeff Bezos and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, it seems Washington is united. But the vote will tell it all.

Read the full essay here.