Fun. Rallying for Same-Sex Marriage With Halloween Show
Fun. have their Halloween plans booked. While they may come out in costume, they’ll be doing it for a cause that’s important to them: the band will play a benefit concert in Maine to support a bill on the November 6th ballot that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
“It’s specifically about a vote they have going on in their state, so not only are we behind the issue – we really intend to go and help where we can make a difference by making some noise, garnering some money and donating some money,” Andrew Dost told Rolling Stone at the MTV VMAs.
Such amendments are on the ballot in four states – Washington, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota. The band hoped to also play Washington, but they haven’t been able to arrange it due to a scheduling conflict. Still, they want to get involved in any way they can, hoping to encourage people to view the issue as one of human rights more than sexual preference.
“We got involved because we care in the same way we think everyone should care, and more importantly, we think it should be an issue way beyond the gay community,” said Jack Antonoff. “It’s a little bit of a vibe like, ‘It’s not my problem if I’m not gay.’ But it should be everyone’s problem.”
After watching California’s Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriage, pass a few years ago, Fun. hope to see more voter participation. “You have a lot of young people who aren’t getting out and voting who actually are liberal,” Dost said. “A lot of college kids, or even people our age, aren’t voting necessarily, and that’s a big deal, especially in this election.”
Antonoff is hoping as many people are fired up by this week’s Democratic National Convention as he was. “Michelle Obama’s speech was one of my favorite speeches in the history of politics or public speaking,” he said. “She laid it out [and] didn’t hold anything back. I think her quote about women choosing what to do with their own bodies and same-sex marriage is really big.”