Musician Dee Snider, lead singer of the rock band Twisted Sister, slammed the transgender movement in a statement posted on Twitter Friday.
A San Francisco Pride Parade dropped Snider from their lineup following a positive response he posted on Twitter to KISS singer Paul Stanley’s statement critical of the transgender movement.
“There is a BIG difference between teaching acceptance and normalizing and even encouraging participation in a lifestyle that confuses young children into questioning their sexual identification as though some sort of game and then parents in some cases allow it,” Stanley wrote on Twitter. (RELATED: ‘Their Credibility Will Be Sunk’: WPATH Continues To Stonewall Efforts At Transparency In Alabama)
Snider responded to Stanley’s statement on Twitter, calling it, “well said.”
“You know what? There was a time where I ‘felt pretty’ too. Glad my parents didn’t jump to any rash conclusions!” Snider said.
You know what? There was a time where I “felt pretty” too. Glad my parents didn’t jump to any rash conclusions! Well said, @PaulStanleyLive https://t.co/G80uNyzD7M
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) May 1, 2023
In response to Snider’s statements critical of child sex changes, the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade rescinded their invitation for the rocker to sing his band’s hit song ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ at the event.
“I have ALWAYS stood with the community and its important causes. I was honored to accept the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade’s invitation and I even gave my blessing for ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ to be used as this year’s battle cry [‘Queer Not Gonna Take It!’],” Snider said.
The post was titled “So, I hear I’m transphobic. Really?” Snider criticized the transgender movement for demanding “fealty and total agreement” from everyone.
“So, my lifetime of supporting the Transgender community’s right to identify as they want and honoring whatever changes they may make in how they present themselves to the world isn’t enough? Why not?”
“San Francisco Pride was on the cusp of announcing Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as the unofficial rallying cry of this year’s SF Pride Parade & Celebration, with the band’s frontman Dee Snider performing the song on our center stage,” the LGBT group said in a statement following the cancelation. “Dee has always been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.”
“However, when we were notified about the tweet in which Dee expressed support for Kiss’s Paul Stanley’s transphobic statement, we were heartbroken and angry. The message perpetuated by that tweet casts doubt on young trans people’s ability to self-identify their gender,” the group added. “We have mutually agreed to part ways, but appreciate Dee seeing this as a teachable moment and a reminder that even allies need to be educated to ensure that they are not casually promoting transphobia. To all our allies — we want to call you in — not call you out.”