Twisted Sister front man cut from Pride fest after publicly supporting anti-trans tweet
UPDATE: Dee Snider issued a statement via his Facebook account on Friday, May 5. The statement is titled “So, I hear I am transphobic. Really?” He said that he has always been an LGBTQ+ ally and would continue to support the transgender community, signing off with “your cisgender, crossdressing ally.” He added that “Moving forward, I am open to educating myself so I can be a better ally.”
The original story is below.
An iconic ‘80s rock anthem was going to be the “unofficial rallying cry” of a California city’s Pride festival this year — until the front man publicly supported an anti-trans tweet.
San Francisco Pride has cut ties with Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider, meaning the artist won’t be welcomed to perform “We’re Not Gonna Take It” on the festival’s center stage, organizers said in a statement.
“When we were notified about the tweet in which Dee expressed support for Kiss’ Paul Stanley’s transphobic statement, we were heartbroken and angry,” organizers said in the statement. “The message perpetuated by that tweet casts doubt on young trans people’s ability to self-identify their gender.”
Paul Stanley, the lead singer of Kiss, tweeted a lengthy statement on April 30 titled “My Thoughts On What I’m Seeing.”
In the statement, he criticized parents who support trans children and “allow” them to “(question) their sexual identification as though some sort of game” and get “caught up in the ‘fun’ of using pronouns.”
Snider retweeted the statement on May 1 and wrote that it was “well said.”
“You know what? There was a time where I ‘felt pretty’ too,” Snider said in the tweet. “Glad my parents didn’t jump to any rash conclusions!”
The public show of support took San Francisco’s Pride festival organizers by surprise because “Dee has always been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights,” officials said in the statement.
Twisted Sister’s management did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
“Transgender people, particularly transgender women and children of color, are disproportionately affected by hate and violence,” organizers said in the statement. “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.”
Organizers said they hoped Snider would see the decision as a “teachable moment.”
“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,” organizers said in the statement. “To our allies — we want to call you in — not call you out.”
Some commented on Snider’s tweet saying he was sharing a “bad take” without a full picture of what it means to be transgender.
“As a Trans woman who began her transition at 5 yrs old, I promise you it saved my life,” someone said. “Had I not been allowed to transition my parents would have been burying their son rather than growing old with their daughter.”
Many also pointed out the double standard that both rockers from Kiss and Twisted Sister regularly wear makeup, wigs, and costumes when they perform.
Last year, Snider tweeted out a strong message of resistance to Republicans who used the song at campaign rallies, saying they were distorting the meaning of the song.
“ATTENTION QANON, MAGAT FASCISTS,” he said in the Aug. 26, 2022, tweet. “Every time you sing ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ remember it was written by a cross-dressing, libtard, tree hugging half-Jew who HATES everything you stand for. It was you and people like you that inspired every angry word of that song!”
This story was originally published May 4, 2023 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Twisted Sister front man cut from Pride fest after publicly supporting anti-trans tweet."
