San Francisco Sun

The San Francisco Pride Parade invited Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider to be the grand marshal of its event and sing "We're Not Gonna Take It" on stage, but the group uninvited the star after he retweeted a post that some perceived as transphobic.

Snider, who described himself as a “cisgender, crossdressing ally” of the LGBT+ community, stated in a Facebook post that while he supports the LGBT+ community, he doesn’t believe children should be able to make life-altering decisions regarding their gender.

"I was not aware the transgender community expects fealty and total agreement with all their beliefs and any variation or deviation is considered ‘transphobic,'” Snider stated in his post. "So, my lifetime of supporting the transgender community’s right to identify as they want and honoring whatever changes they may make in how they present themselves to the world isn’t enough? Why not?”

Snider acknowledged his recent comments about his belief children are not mature enough to decide their gender.

“I believe their choices should be supported and accepted by their parents, but I do not think kids have the mental capabilities to make rational, logical decisions on things of a magnitude that will affect them for the rest of their lives,” he wrote in his post. “I do not believe they are mentally developed enough."

San Francisco Pride released a statement about its decision to cancel Snider’s appearance, according to The Hill.

"Dee has always been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights,” the group stated. “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.”

Snider, in his response on Facebook, reiterated his support for LGBT rights and said he considers himself a political moderate, and cited comments from Dr. Jennifer Katzenstein, the co-director of the Center for Behavioral Health at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, as a basis for his position.

"It is important for parents to remember that development varies across children and that one age (such as age 7), is not the end of development, or a 'deadline' for developing reasoning skills,” Katzenstein said, according to Snider’s Facebook post. “Cognitive development continues into adulthood, and as parents, it is our responsibility to continue to challenge and support our children."

Snider also said the decision to remove him from the festivities makes SF Pride look bad.

"Don't reject people who are willing to march, sing and stand with you just because we don't perfectly see eye-to-eye," Snider stated in the post.