KISS' Paul Stanley Backtracks Comments On The Dangers Of Transitioning Kids Because Some People Lack Basic Reading Comprehension
KISS' Paul Stanley drew the ire of the woke mob with what the rest of us saw as an entirely rational take on the absurdity of coercing kids into undergoing gender transitions.
It was such a reasonable take, it almost shot Paul to the list of my favorite KISS members.
(Almost. I'm a big Ace fan. No disrespect to Tommy Thayer, but Ace is the Spaceman.)
What he said was not even the slightest bit insane. Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider agreed with him as well. That's a solid guy to have back you up. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dee is an incredibly sharp dude.
However, after a few days, Paul — who wills soon go back on tour with KISS, a band I believe is in the middle of their fourth or fifth farewell tour — walked back those comments.
"While my thoughts were clear, my words clearly were not," Stanley wrote. "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."
I get that KISS has tickets, t-shirts, pinball machines, and caskets to sell. Gene doesn't want anything cutting into the bottom line. Still, Stanley apologizing for his reasonable take is a massive disappointment.
But I still don't understand what he's trying to clarify.
Undoubtedly there are times when a person's statement doesn't jive with the point they're trying to make. That's just the nature of language, there is often wiggle room for interpretation.
This wasn't one of those times.
Paul Stanley performs with KISS. Peep that incredible Ibanez Iceman he's wielding. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)
Paul Stanley Knows Kids Aren't Prepared To Make These Life-Altering Decisions... Y'know, Like A Sane Person
One of the reasons I thought Stanley's statement was so brilliant was that he said it's one thing for adults to undergo gender reassignment treatment should they feel the need. However, kids shouldn't be confused and coerced into making those same decisions when they're nowhere near prepared to do so. That's an opinion held by a lot of people.
Why? Because kids simply cannot understand the long-term effects of such a decision.
Ask a young kid what job they want when they grow up and some will say they want to be a cat. Unless you're Peter Criss, that's not a job or even possible (okay, fine; Eric Singer made it work too).
Do you know how many kids fail that psychological experiment where you give a kid a marshmallow and tell them if they can go ten minutes without eating it they'll get a second marshmallow? You expect young kids like that to understand the long-term effects of undergoing serious, irreversible surgery.
But adults can understand these decisions.
We all know this. I do, you do, and so does Paul Stanley.
Paul Stanley and Evan Stanley at the premiere of the Foo FIghters' movie "Studio 666." (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)
The Mob Scared Paul Stanley Into Clarifying Something That Was Already Crystal Clear
So then why is Stanley wanting to set the record straight about supporting "those struggling with their sexual identity." I gathered that from his original statement. I didn't go away from thinking, "Jeez, the Starchild isn't a fan of trans people." Not for one second did I think that, and I'm far from a genius (read through the comment section sometime; they'll back me up on that).
So how come I can pick up on that, but people who are so obsessed with identity politics and gender that they make it their personality didn't pick up on this?
Because they didn't want to. They don't like the message they pretend it wasn't clear.
These days Paul Stanley is not in the boat-rocking business (although he is in the business of rock and rolling all night and partying ev-uh-ry day) and quickly back-pedaled at the first sign of opposition. If he doesn't want to stand up to the mob, he doesn't have to, but it's as disappointing as Psycho Circus.
That's unfortunate because as we've all seen far too many times, if you cave to the mob once, prepare for them to never go away.
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