Dee Snider angers trans activists by siding with Paul Stanley

The San Francisco Pride festival has dropped Twisted Sister’s ’80s classic “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as the official anthem of its 2023 celebration.

The move came after lead singer Dee Snider endorsed tweets from Kiss member Paul Stanley, who criticized pushing gender ideology on children.

According to KRON4, the festival was about to announce the song of defiance as the festival’s theme and Snider had been set to perform.

“Ultimately SF Pride and Dee have mutually agreed to part ways,” the festival said in a statement, adding that Stanley’s tweet was “transphobic.” It added that the organization was “heartbroken and angry.”

On Sunday, Stanley tweeted out a lengthy statement about the increasingly controversial topic of youths undergoing sex reassignment.

“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.”

Stanley’s tweet continued, “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.”

Snider, who is vocal about his left-wing politics and in 2020 blasted anti-maskers for using his hit song in a video, put his stamp of approval on his fellow rocker’s sentiments, adding,

“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.”

Both Snider and Stanley, who wore make-up and sported wild long hair in their heyday, were criticized for taking a stance, particularly considering their own flamboyant personas.

“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,” one fan responded to Stanley on Twitter.

But others were more supportive, noting the nuance of their message.

“There’s a difference between telling kids they can dress however they like (good thing) and leading kids down a path towards life altering medical decisions with a statistically very high chance to end up being the wrong move for them, quite possibly ruining their life (bad thing),” said another commentator.

Snider has doubled down on Twitter, responding to critics: “Parents needs to be less reactionary; Right and Left. No need to steer the child in either direction. Let the kid figure it out for themselves knowing their family is supportive.”

But Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, said Snider promised to put out a statement expressing his regret.

“It made me sick,” Ford told the local ABC affiliate of Snider’s tweets: “We cannot stand by these statements…I had a painful discussion with him yesterday…I think he realizes he was wrong…He was ignorant of the situation.”