Two prominent rock stars are voicing their opposition to the activist push to normalize and transition children who say they identify as transgender.

“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,” Paul Stanley, lead singer and co-founder of the band KISS, said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“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,” he continued.

Stanley emphasized that some adults are “mistakenly” 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.”

Stanley’s remarks quickly sparked criticism on Twitter as proponents of transitioning children accused him of making an “extremely bad take.” But rock star Dee Snider was quick to support him.

“You know what? there was a time where I ‘felt pretty’ too,” tweeted Snider, the lead singer and songwriter of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. “Glad my parents didn’t jump to any rash conclusions!”

“Well said,” he added of Stanley’s statement.

It’s unclear whether the rock stars had discussed the push to normalize trans-identifying kids privately. But advocates, who want children to grow up before they make life-altering decisions, believe the denouncements may open the door for more public dissent.

Media outlets were quick to portray Stanley and Snider in a negative light. “KISS and Twisted Sister Rock Legends Go Full-on Transphobic,” claimed The Advocate. “Kiss’ Paul Stanley Has ‘Thoughts’ About Parents Who Support Kids’ Gender Identities,” said Rolling Stone. Billboard accused Stanley of forwarding “anti-trans talking points when it comes to minors.”

Activist LGBTQ groups, lawmakers, and President Joe Biden’s administration have insisted that “gender affirming care” is crucial to the well-being of youth who say they identify as transgender. These activists use the phrase “gender affirming care” to mask the grisly realities of transitioning—hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries to remove or “create” breasts, remove or “create” a penis, facial feminization, and more.

But as activists push this rhetoric, more and more detransitioners are coming forward and condemning the school systems, therapists, activists, and surgeons who permanently altered their lives. These individuals, and others who speak out against the ideological movement, face intense criticism and hatred from online activists, who insist that trans-identifying individuals must be affirmed.

In 2021 alone, about 42,000 children and teens across the U.S. received a gender dysphoria diagnosis, according to data compiled by Komodo for Reuters. That is almost double the number of gender dysphoria diagnoses from 2020 (24,847). Between 2017 and 2021, that analysis found that at least 121,882 children between the ages of six and 17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria. 

Those numbers arguably undercount the children who have undergone experimental interventions, because they don’t include treatment that wasn’t covered by insurance and they don’t include patients who were not diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

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