After Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace spoke out against Arcade Fire’s “We Exist” video, which stars Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield as transgender, frontman Win Butler has responded in a recent interview with Advocate.com.

Butler noted that the song, which centers around a son coming out to his father, was inspired by the band’s visit to Jamaica where they discovered the country’s homophobic leanings. “We were in Kingston, and we went to this kind of film event and met some gay Jamaican kids and just kind of talked to them and realized that they were constantly under the threat of violence,” Butler said.

As far as Garfield’s involvement, Butler noted that “for a gay kid in Jamaica to see the actor who played Spider-Man in that role is pretty damn powerful, in my opinion.”

Video director David Wilson said he initially planned to cast a Trans actor (Garfield did work closely with Trans musician Our Lady J) but was moved by Garfield’s passion for the project. “For an actor of that caliber to be that emotionally invested in a music video is just a very special thing. It just completely made sense.”