KISS frontman Paul Stanley said Sunday that affirming the gender identities of children is “a sad and dangerous fad.”
In a statement titled “My Thoughts On What I’m Seeing” that he posted on Twitter, the 71-year-old said he believes “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.”
It is not clear what prompted Stanley to publicly share his views.
“There ARE individuals who as adults may decide reassignment is their needed choice,” he wrote, “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 is getting plenty of support on social media. “Essentially, he's saying leave the kids alone to grow up,” tweeted one. “Nice to know there are more normal people with common sense in the music scene than we knew.” Another shared: “Just like that I am in love with Paul Stanley again.”
But, many other people are criticizing Stanley for conflating gender identity and sexual orientation, which develop separately.
“This is a very stupid, hugely ignorant statement from Paul Stanley,” opined New Brunswick's Darren Elmore. "Imagine how terrifying it must be to believe something so profoundly false as the idea that every child could be turned trans if they learn about pronouns then wanting to fight to stay that terrified. Mind boggling."
Justin Stayshyn of Ontario called Stanley’s statement “awful, misinformed and a result of a lot of bad journalism out there that fails to point out there is no evidence of children being rushed ‘further down a path’ to transition. It’s NOT happening but people are being convinced it is.”
Another reaction read: “My heart hurts for everyone that paul stanley's post affected. I can only hope that he wakes up and realizes how wrong he is, and that the community is in desperate need of support right now.
KISS is scheduled to do its final nine Canadian shows between Nov. 8 and 22.
Here's a sample of the reactions to Stanley's statement: