Guitar legend Carlos Santana has issued an apology for controversial remarks he made during a concert last month in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The comments were viewed by many as offensive towards the transgender community.
In his onstage rant, Santana said, “When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are. 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.”
The video clip of his remarks was spread across several media outlets, including Consequence of Sound.
After receiving backlash for these comments, the “Smooth” artist issued an apology on his Facebook page, stating, “I am sorry for my insensitive comments. They don’t reflect that I want to honor and respect all person’s ideals and beliefs. I realize that what I said hurt people and that was not my intent. I sincerely apologize to the transgender community and everyone I offended.”
The apology post can only be viewed by a limited number of people.
For the rest of his fans, Santana posted a separate message on Friday morning that read, “The energy of consciousness generates its own kind. Hate begets hate. Love begets love.”