SF Pride Drops Dee Snider Performance After He Supported Paul Stanley’s Transphobic Tweet

Dee Snider’s planned performance at San Francisco Pride in June has been called off after the Twisted Sister singer voiced his support for Paul Stanley’s transphobic tweet.

“San Francisco Pride was on the cusp of announcing Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as the unofficial rallying cry of this year’s SF Pride Parade & Celebration, with the band’s frontman Dee Snider performing the song on our center stage. Dee has always been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights,” SF Pride said in a statement.

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“However,  when we were notified about the tweet in which Dee expressed support for Kiss’s Paul Stanley’s transphobic statement, we were heartbroken and angry. The message perpetuated by that tweet casts doubt on young trans people’s ability to self-identify their gender. “

On Sunday, the Kiss guitarist tweeted an unprompted statement calling the expression of gender identity among children “a sad and dangerous fad.”

“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,” he wrote in his “My Thoughts On What I’m Seeing” tweet on Sunday.

The tweet drew the support of the usual anti-trans crowd and, surprisingly, Snider, who as SF Pride noted — and Snider himself said in a follow-up tweet — has been a longtime ally of the LGBTQ+ community.

“You know what? There was a time where I ‘felt pretty’ too,” Snider tweeted to Stanley. “Glad my parents didn’t jump to any rash conclusions!”

Snider continued, “Parents need 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. I had a vet/cop hardass dad who, while he shook his head A LOT…let me do my thing.”

When a fan questioned Snider’s responses, the Twisted Sister singer said, “I guess I’ll just need to turn in my LGBTQIA+ membership card…oh wait! I’m gonna need it in a big way TBA,” hinting at the still-unannounced SF Pride performance.

“Transgender people, particularly transgender women and children of color, are disproportionately affected by hate and violence. And with transphobia proliferating and becoming more and more enshrined in law throughout the country — we have to stand up for the most impacted among us,” SF Pride added.

“We have mutually agreed to part ways, but appreciate Dee seeing this as a teachable moment and a reminder that even allies need to be educated to ensure that they are not casually promoting transphobia. To all our allies — we want to call you in — not call you out.”

Snider has not yet tweeted about his removal from SF Pride, scheduled for June 24 and 25.

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