Today Wild Ponies premiere its video for "Love Is Not a Sin" on Out. The band recently recorded the pro-equality anthem between tour dates, sparked by an idea Doug Williams had while he and wife Telisha were performing a cover of Patti Smith's "Gloria" at a recent benefit.
"It was the line 'Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine,'" Doug says. "It just made me think that conceding that any kind of love was a sin was giving up more ground than you needed to give. It made me look at how we think about love and relationships and wonder how anyone could be offended by two people being loving, wonderful contributing members of society."
For a video to accompany the song, the band asked fans for photos of themselves with their loved ones, significant others, family and friends. The project description posted on their website noted:
"Gay? Straight? Black? White? A mix up of all those things, or something else? Great! To be completely clear, this is a PRO marriage equality song. This is a PRO love song, both same or opposite sex, race, or ethnicity. If you're not cool with that, then you simply don't have to submit a photo."
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When asked why the band decided to address this issue, Doug responded:
"It's a strange time. People are upset about love, and upset that other people want to put more of it in the world and live their lives together. I don't really understand that. This is me trying to write a song that people on both sides might listen to--a song that might even make a difference in someone's thinking. Maybe the folks who are just a little bit on the other side, just across the line, might hear it and re-think their position."
The track will most likely be included on their next, as-yet-untitled 2015 LP, and they are performing it on their current U.S. tour.
Watch the video below:
