Famous guitarist Carlos Santana (Autlán de Navarro, Mexico, 76 years old) had to apologize. The reason? A transphobic speech he gave between songs at one of his concerts. His words took place during a concert in Atlantic City (New Jersey), which took place at the end of July last year. Although it took several days for the video to be released, it went viral on social media as soon as it saw the light of day. Given the uproar this caused, the founder of Santana, a pioneering band in fusing Latin music and rock, felt compelled to issue a public apology, which he did with a message on his Facebook account.
“When God created you and me, before we came out of the womb, you knew who you were and what you were.” said at the concert. He continued, “Later on, when you get out of there, you see things and you start believing that maybe you’re something that sounds good, but you know it’s not good.” But that wasn’t the end of it, as Santana poignantly stated, “A woman is a woman and a man is a man, that’s all.” What you choose to do in the closet is up to you.
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For weeks, the artist had not retracted his words. After going viral, the legendary guitarist, winner of 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammys, decided yesterday to take to his social networks to apologize. “I’m sorry for my insensitive comments,” the letter begins. He only shared it on his Facebook account, although he also has active profiles on Instagram and X (old Twitter). “They don’t reflect my desire to honor and respect everyone’s ideals and beliefs. I realize that what I said hurt people and that was not my intention. “I sincerely apologize to the transgender community and to anyone I have offended,” his letter of apology continued.
In the age of social media, there is no comment or controversy that goes unpunished. And Santana’s words wouldn’t go unnoticed, even though it took several weeks for them to be made public. It was a Reddit user who first posted the video. According to Infobae, the user attended the concert with his family and after the controversial comments, they decided to leave the concert: “He spent 15 minutes saying the most shocking anti-trans shit I’ve ever heard.” What the possibility admits that his speech was full of other annoyances that have not yet been made public.
Carlos Santana railed against transgender people during a concert in New Jersey:
“When God created you and me, before we came out of the womb, you knew who you were and what you were…a woman is a woman and a man is a man.” pic.twitter.com/fss8d4qukK
—Pop Base (@PopBase) August 24, 2023
“I want to honor and respect the ideals and beliefs of all people, whether they are LGBTQ or not. This is the planet of free will and we have all received this gift. Now I will pursue this goal of being happy and having fun and for everyone to believe whatever they want and stay in their heart without fear,” the apology, posted on Facebook, reads. Santana concludes, “It takes courage to grow and shine in the light that you are, to be true, real, and authentic.” We grow and learn to shine our light with love and compliments. Live a glorious existence. Peace!”.
The famous 76-year-old guitarist suffered a fainting spell during a concert on his US tour last summer. Hours after the incident, he reappeared on his Facebook page and explained the reasons behind the incident: “I forgot to eat and drink water, so I got dehydrated and passed out.” A year later, he continues his US tour and still has 16 concerts ahead of him in Las Vegas (Nevada).