Guitarist Carlos Santana under fire for gender stance

Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana has come under fire for telling an audience in Atlantic City, N.J., that God has a plan for everyone’s life and that gender is unchangeable.

“When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you aren’t,” he said. “Later on, when you grow out of it, you see things, and you start believing that you could be something that sounds good, but you know it ain’t right. Because a woman is a woman and a man is a man. That’s it. Whatever you wanna do in the closet, that’s your business. So I’m OK with that.”

Yesterday, during a concert in New Jersey, the legendary guitarist Carlos Santana challenged gender ideology with these words: “everyone can say what they want, but from the moment they are in their mother’s womb, a man is a man and a woman is a woman, and that cannot be changed” pic.twitter.com/h76rp5ipZn

— Eduardo Lejarazu (@LejarazuEduardo) August 25, 2023

Santana went on to say he supports his “brother” comedian Dave Chappelle, who has made similar comments about the transgender movement. As soon as clips from Santana’s concert began circulating online, the entertainer faced condemnation for his “anti-trans” remarks. Santana appeared to back down from his comments in a statement shared with “Billboard.”

“Here is my personal goal that I strive to achieve every day,” he said. “I want to honor and respect all persons’ ideals and beliefs, whether they are LGBTQ or not. This is the planet of free will and we have all been given this gift. I will now pursue this goal to be happy and have fun, and for everyone to believe what they want and follow in their hearts without fear. It takes courage to grow and glow in the light that you are and to be true, genuine and authentic. We grow and learn to shine our light with love and compliments. Have a glorious existence. Peace.”

Santana is not the first musician to speak out on the broadening transgender movement. In mid-June, former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider spoke out against administering puberty blockers, hormone therapies and transgender-related surgeries.

“I’ve recently stated I do not believe young children are ready to decide their gender allocation,” he said. “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.”

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice

Photo: Eddie Janssens. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0