THE BEAST

Earlier this week,   TMZ   caught up with   KISS   frontman   Paul Stanley   in the Beverly Glen neighborhood of Los Angeles, California and asked him about governor   Gavin Newsom 's proclamation declaring June 2023 as "LGBTQ+ Pride Month" in the State of California. This month — and every month — California stands with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community as they take pride in who they are and whom they love.

Paul   said: "Everybody has a right to be who they are. Life's too short to be anyone else… Everybody should celebrate who they are. Be proud of who you are as long as it's something worth being proud of… What's the criteria for being proud is being a good person, not transgender or any other gender."

In late April,   Stanley   came under fire for sharing what some people characterized as "misinformation" about gender-affirming care for youths, saying that "irreversible" procedures shouldn't be performed on children. "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,"   Stanley   wrote.

He added that adults "may decide reassignment is their needed choice," but said that children should not be eligible for gender-affirming surgeries and procedures. "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," he wrote.

Closing his statement,   Stanley   claimed that too many parents were confusing "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."

A few other rock musicians publicly supported   Stanley 's comments, including   TWISTED SISTER   frontman   Dee Snider , who tweeted: "You know what? There was a time where I 'felt pretty' too. Glad my parents didn't jump to any rash conclusions!"   Phil Labonte , lead vocalist of the metal band   ALL THAT REMAINS , tweeted, " Paul   is right." And pro wrestler   Chris Jericho   — who fronts   FOZZY   — retweeted   Stanley 's statement without additional comment, to his 3.5 million followers.

Some pointed out that   KISS , which was co-founded by   Stanley   in 1973, was pioneering in breaking down the taboos surrounding men wearing makeup and feminine clothing.

THE OFFSPRING   guitarist   Noodles , whose real name is   Kevin Wasserman , wrote on   Twitter : "This is a very disappointing take, especially from someone who wore high-heels, makeup, & teased up hair his whole career. As a young kid your band helped teach me that I could be whatever I wanted to be. I guess it was just gimmickry after all."

In a follow-up statement on May 4,   Stanley   walked back his previous statement, saying: "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."

Closing his latest statement,   Stanley   opted not to clarify his original comments, insisting that social media may not be the best place for genuine discourse. "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," he wrote.

In April, outspoken conservative rocker   Ted Nugent   shared a tweet in which he denounced the existence of transgender people and told people they could "debate" him if they disagreed.

"There is no such thing as transgender. You cannot change your gender. Comfortably numb is actually uncomfortably dumb. Debate me but bring your bib," he wrote.

Via Blabbermouth