San Francisco Pride announces Dee Snider performance has been scrapped after the rocker supported a 'transphobic' statement
San Francisco Pride declared that it had been planning for rocker Dee Snider to perform the Twisted Sister anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" but that the plan has been scrapped since Snider agreed with a "transphobic" statement issued by Kiss member Paul Stanley.
"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. Dee has always been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights," a press release declares. "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."
"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," the release said.
Stanley issued a statement on Sunday in which he appeared to argue that adults should not encourage children to identify as the opposite sex.
"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," Stanely wrote. "There ARE individuals who as adults may decide reassignment is their needed choice but turning this into a game or parents normalizing it as some sort of natural alternative or believing that because a little boy likes to play dress up in his sister's clothes or a girl in her brother's, we should lead them steps further down a path that's far from the innocence of what they are doing.
"With many children who have no real sense of sexuality or sexual experiences caught up in the 'fun' of using pronouns and saying what they identify as, some adults mistakenly confuse teaching acceptance with normalizing and encouraging a situation that has been a struggle for those truly affected and have turned it into a sad and dangerous fad," Stanley wrote.
Snider retweeted Stanley's statement and expressed agreement on Monday.
"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," Snider wrote.
\u201cYou know what? There was a time where I "felt pretty" too. Glad my parents didn't jump to any rash conclusions! Well said, @PaulStanleyLive\u201d— Dee Snider\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udfa4 (@Dee Snider\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udfa4) 1682925008
Stanley issued another statement on Thursday.
"While my thoughts were clear, my words clearly were not. Most importantly and above all else, I support those struggling with their sexual identity while enduring constant hostility and those whose path leads them to reassignment surgery. It's hard to fathom the kind of conviction that one must feel to take those steps. A paragraph or two will remain far too short to fully convey my thoughts or point of view so I will leave that for another time and place," Stanley wrote.
\u201chttps://t.co/RAjy0zPNHa\u201d— Paul Stanley (@Paul Stanley) 1683223367
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