In September, travel site Expedia announced its support for a same-sex marriage ballot initiative in Washington State. Now, the company is going a step further and promoting marriage equality in a new emotional video called “Find Your Understanding.” In the clip, a retired businessman named Artie Goldstein talks candidly about his struggle and eventual acceptance of his daughter’s marriage to a woman:
My expectations of what Jill’s life was going to be included a husband. So when Nikki came to ask permission to marry our little girl, that startled me. I told her, ‘This is not the dream I had for my daughter.’ I didn’t say yes, I didn’t say no. Coming out to the wedding from back east, I had some real apprehensions about it. What’s this going to look like, two girls getting married? You have to make a decision. Are you going to have a daughter that you are going to maintain a very wonderful relationship with for the rest of your life? Or are you going to lose that child? Once we got out to California and we saw how happy they were, all that trepidation just seemed to go away.
Watch it:
Expedia included this video in its “Find Yours” series, which highlights the personal significance of travel. The married couple told the Huffington Post, “We are extremely proud of our father and his personal journey that has led him to his understanding.” Washington voters, of which a growing majority support marriage equality, seem poised to legalize gay marriage in the state in November.