Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana took down an apology he posted on his Facebook page after a viral video emerged showing him saying transgender people should stay “in the closet” while performing in Atlantic City, New Jersey, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
In the video, recorded during a late July concert, the 76-year-old “Smooth” musician can be seen pausing the show to share his thoughts on gender identity before approximately 5,000 attendees.
“When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are,” Santana said in the clip posted to YouTube on Aug. 19. “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. I’m OK with that.” Santana also praised comedian Dave Chappelle, referring to the comedian who was criticized for making transphobic jokes in his 2021 Netflix special The Closer as “my brother.”
An apology was initially shared via email with the Chronicle and subsequently on Facebook. However, the next day, Santana removed that message from his Facebook page and replaced it with a poem: “the energy of consciousness/generates its own kind. hate begets hate/love begets love.”
Over the past few years, the LGBTQ+ community (and drag performers, especially) has faced targeted accusations of “grooming” from some far-right and conservative groups, KTLA noted. The trans community has dealt with many of the attacks, and have been the subjects of many discriminatory bills and laws in various states.
—Andrew Davis