KISS frontman Paul Stanley followed up on his Sunday comments referring to the idea of transgender children as a “sad and dangerous fad.”
Stanley's Sunday post was met with critics noting KISS' use of makeup and costumes throughout the band's 50-year history.
"While my thoughts were clear, my words clearly were not," Stanley wrote Thursday referencing his previous post. "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."
Stanley concluded by saying a post is too short to accurately convey his thoughts or point of view, noting he would "leave that for another time and place."
On Sunday, the KISS frontman shared a text image post titled “My Thoughts On What I’m Seeing” in which he discussed transgender children without explicitly mentioning the term.
“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 their parents in some cases allow it,” Stanley wrote Sunday afternoon. “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.” The KISS frontman also commented on the push to use pronouns as something “fun” children do, though noted exposing children to sexuality was a “sad and dangerous fad.” “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 mistakingly 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,” he said. Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, who dressed in a drag style for his band’s performances, agreed with Stanley’s sentiment. “You know what? There was a time where I ‘felt pretty’ too,” Snider said. “Glad my parents didn’t jump to any rash conclusions! Well said, [Paul Stanley].”
