Is it transphobic to say that children are too young to make major decisions about surgery on their bodies? They can't vote.  They're supposed to be 16-18 to be at the age of consent for sex, and the same for marriage.

I'm a fan of Joe Garofoli, but I'm disturbed by the headline in his column in the SF Chronicle today, "SF Pride breaks with Snider after his transphobic tweet."

We are too often told what to think.  Here we are being told that Snider's tweet was transphobic.

Dee Snider has been a longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights and had agreed to perform the song "We're Not Gonna Take It" in reference to the pushback on the rights of LGBTQ people at SF Pride.

Then Paul Stanley, a 71-year-old rockstar made what Joe Garofoli calls a transphobic Twitter post:  "There is a BIG difference between teaching acceptance and normalizing and even encouraging participation in a lifestyle that confuses young children...as though (it is) some sort of game and then parents in some cases allow it."  (Not so clearly stated.)  Apparently he referred to the normalizing and encouraging as a "sad and dangerous fad."

Snider responded, "You know what?  There was a time where I 'felt pretty' too.  Glad my parents didn't jump to any rash conclusions!  Well said, @PaulStanley Live."  

Does this imply that Snider is transphobic?  

Suzanne Ford, executive director of SF Pride said "The message perpetuated by that tweet casts doubt on young trans people's ability to self-identify their gender."   Would it be more accurate to say that the tweet casts doubt on children's ability to permanently identify their gender for a surgical sex change from what they were "assigned"?  And isn't "assigned" a misleading word too?

Here's what else Snider said:

“Parents need to be less reactionary; Right and Left. No need to steer the child in either direction. Let the kid figure it out for themselves knowing their family is supportive. I had a vet/cop hardass dad who, while he shook his head A LOT…let me do my thing.”