KISS's Paul Stanley walks back comments criticizing children's gender reassignment surgery
Stanley previously called trend of gender transitioning among youth a 'sad and dangerous fad'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}KISS frontman Paul Stanley walked back criticisms of children receiving gender reassignment surgery, saying his previous statements have not been sufficiently clear.
Stanley previously spoke out against gender reassignment surgery for children Monday in a short statement calling the practice "a sad and dangerous fad."
"While my thoughts were clear, my words clearly were not," Stanley wrote Thursday on social media.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}KISS CO-FOUNDER BLASTS 'NORMALIZING' SEXUAL STRUGGLES IN CHILDREN: 'SAD AND DANGEROUS FAD'
Musician Paul Stanley of KISS and Erin Sutton, right, attend a game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
"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," Stanley wrote.
The guitarist closed the message by saying his feelings on the matter are too complex for a short statement, and he would therefore refrain from commenting further.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The KISS frontman concluded, "It's hard to fathom the kind of conviction that one must feel to take those steps. A paragraph or two will remain far too short to fully convey my thoughts or point of view so I will leave that for another time and place."
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Stanley's message is an about-face on the issue after previously accusing parents encouraging gender reassignment in their children of turning the issue into a "sort of game."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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 wrote Monday.
He 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}From left to right, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer of KISS visit SiriusXM's "The Howard Stern Show" at SiriusXM Studios in Los Angeles. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Recently, gender reassignment surgeries and other chemical treatments for children came into the spotlight as Republican legislatures sought to ban the practice in their states.
Meanwhile, the White House has appeared to endorse sex-change operations for minors in a series of documents released in March 2022.
Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley of Kiss pose upon their arrival into Melbourne Airport in Melbourne, Victoria. (Jake Nowakowski/Newspix via Getty Images)
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Population Affairs released a document titled "Gender Affirming Care and Young People" while the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Child Traumatic Stress Network featured one titled "Gender-Affirming Care Is Trauma-Informed Care."
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Both promoted "top" and "bottom" surgeries as well as puberty blockers for children and adolescents.
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.