ALICE COOPER finds himself in hot water as he faces backlash over trans fad comments

Published September 6 2023 at 10:39

ALICE COOPER recently faced some serious backlash for expressing views that align with the opinions of a significant portion of the American population.

In late August, the gothic cosmetics brand Vampyre Cosmetics terminated its collaboration with Alice due to comments he made concerning transgender issues in a recent interview with the 'Stereogum' website. Cooper, along with fellow celebrities Paul Stanley (KISS) and Dee Snider, expressed some reservations about the current popularity of transgender identity.

Here's the full quote of what Alice said to Stereogum:

"QUESTION: In a 1974 interview with SPEC, you gave really forward-thinking responses to questions about sexuality and gender. You said "In the future, everyone will be bisexual," and you accurately defined pansexuality, among other things. You also said, "Lots of men who perform wear make-up - that's a theatrical tradition, it has nothing to do with sexuality."

Recently some of your "theatrical" rock peers have commented about gender identity, with Paul Stanley and Dee Snider calling gender-affirming care for kids a "sad and dangerous fad."

As someone who played around with gender expectations early on, do you have any thoughts on what some of your contemporaries have said before they walked those comments back?

COOPER ANSWER: "Yeah. I'm understanding that there are cases of transgender, but I'm afraid that it's also a fad, and I'm afraid there's a lot of people claiming to be this just because they want to be that. I find it wrong when you've got a six-year-old kid who has no idea. He just wants to play, and you're confusing him telling him, "Yeah, you're a boy, but you could be a girl if you want to be."

I think that's so confusing to a kid. It's even confusing to a teenager. You're still trying to find your identity, and yet here's this thing going on, saying, "Yeah, but you can be anything you want. You can be a cat if you want to be." I mean, if you identify as a tree... And I'm going, "Come on! What are we in, a Kurt Vonnegut novel?" It's so absurd, that it's gone now to the point of absurdity.

The whole woke thing... Nobody can answer this question. Maybe you can. Who's making the rules? Is there a building somewhere in New York where people sit down every day and say, "Okay, we can't say 'mother' now. We have to say 'birthing person.' Get that out on the wire right now"? Who is this person that's making these rules? I don't get it. I'm not being old school about it. I'm being logical about it.

It's getting to the point now where it's laughable. If anybody was trying to make a point on this thing, they turned it into a huge comedy. I don't know one person that agrees with the woke thing. I don't know one person. Everybody I talk to says, "Isn't it stupid?" And I'm going, "Well, I respect people. I respect people and who they are, but I'm not going to tell a seven-year-old boy, 'Go put a dress on because maybe you're a girl,' and he's going, 'No, I'm not. I'm a boy.'"

So I say let somebody at least become sexually aware of who they are before they start thinking about if they're a boy or a girl. A lot of times, I look at it this way, the logical way: If you have these genitals, you're a boy. If you have those genitals, you're a girl. There's a difference between "I am a male who is a female, or I'm a female that's a male" and wanting to be a female. You were born a male. Okay, so that's a fact. You have these things here.

Now, the difference is you want to be a female. Okay, that's something you can do later on if you want to. But you're not a male born a female.

QUESTION: I don't think parents are encouraging doubt in their kids' identities. I would just hope that they listen to their kids and find pediatricians that provide appropriate care.

COOPER ANSWER: "Well, I can see somebody really taking advantage of this, though. A guy can walk into a woman's bathroom at any time and just say, "I just feel like I'm a woman today" and have the time of his life in there, and he's not in the least bit... He's just taking advantage of that situation. Well, that's going to happen. Somebody's going to get raped, and the guy's going to say, "Well, I felt like a girl that day, and then I felt like a guy." Where do you draw this line?

Something's going to raise its ugly head, and all of a sudden, people are going to start going, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. We've got to get this under control."

It's almost like that with AI. People would say, "Well, what about AI?" And I said, "The only person that shouldn't have AI is Paul McCartney." It's dangerous."

Vampyre Cosmetics responded to Cooper's comments the following day with this statement, saying, "In light of recent statements by Alice Cooper, we have decided to cancel our makeup collaboration. We stand in support of the LGBTQIA+ community and believe that everyone should have access to healthcare."

Vampyre Cosmetics had been gearing up to launch a new makeup collection with the "Godfather of Shock Rock." Pre-orders had started on August 14, but the company clarified in last week's statement that all sales would now be refunded.

Cooper's remarks on transgender issues, in reality, were not particularly controversial. Several polls conducted in the spring of 2023 indicated a shift away from support for permanent transgender medical interventions for minors.

In May, a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that nearly 7 in 10 adults opposed the use of puberty blockers for children aged 10 to 14, and nearly 6 in 10 were against cross-sex hormones for 15- to 17-year-olds. Additionally, 55 percent of Americans surveyed by Gallup believed that changing one's gender was 'morally wrong'.

Another poll conducted last fall by Summit.org with McLaughlin and Associates discovered that 75 percent, or 3 in 4 Americans, believed that the transgender movement had "gone too far."

It's essential to note that Alice Cooper's comments did not contain any derogatory remarks about transgender individuals. Instead, he raised questions about the left's tendency to affirm child gender dysphoria or encourage confusion. In essence, he was criticized for expressing his thoughts.

It seems like cancel culture is maybe finally catching up with Rock & Roll as well....