Guitarist Carlos Santana went on a rant against trans people during a Santana concert held on July 29 at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A video featuring a portion of his impromptu diatribe was recently posted on YouTube.
“When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are,” Santana told the crowd as seen in the footage first reported on by Consequence. “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.”
Members of the audience could be heard and seen cheering on the 76-year-old musician. The clip ends as Santana clasped his hands together and remarked, “I am like this with my brother Dave Chappelle.” Comedian Dave Chappelle has made a series of transphobic remarks and jokes.
“I went to see Santana tonight in Atlantic City with my parents, my partner, and her mom. Super stoked. One song in though, Carlos Santana stopped and spent a solid 15 minutes spouting the most insane anti-trans bs I’ve maybe ever heard?” noted a Reddit user following the concert who shared a short clip. “Thought music (especially with this history) was supposed to bring us together..,” added the same Redditor.
“I was there too. It was very uncomfortable, especially the guy shouting Amen throughout. It was weird that he went on about how we are all special and unique after,” wrote a different Reddit user. “I was there, fuck that guy. And the worst part is most people around me were applauding his garbage sermon. Fuck all those people too,” another concertgoer commented on the Reddit post.
Watch a portion of Carlos Santana’s speech below:
UPDATE: Santana provided a statement to Billboard in which he expressed his desire to “honor and respect all person’s ideals and beliefs” but did not walk back his comments about trans people. “Here is my personal goal that I strive to achieve every day. I want to honor and respect all person’s ideals and beliefs whether they are LGBTQ or not,” wrote the guitarist. “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 your 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.”
