Paul Stanley was recently under fire for his controversial comments about children exploring their gender identity. However, when TMZ asked the KISS singer what he thought about transgender people on the first day of Pride Month, he had a different answer. Stanley said:
“Everybody has a right to be who they are, and life’s too short to be anyone else. Well, everybody should celebrate who they are. Being proud of who you are as long as this is something worth being proud of. The criteria for being proud is being a good person, not transgender or any other gender.”
The singer had recently shared his concerns on Twitter about everyone, including parents encouraging young kids to question their identity and gender prematurely. His words read:
“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.”
After his tweet, Stanley received so much backlash that the singer had to clarify his words by saying:
“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.”
You can watch the TMZ interview here. You can read Paul Stanley’s initial tweet here and his explanation here.
