Alice Cooper dropped by makeup brand after anti-trans comments

US rock star Alice Cooper has been dropped by Vampyre Cosmetics, a gothic makeup brand, after his comments about the trans community sparked backlash.

Cooper, known for being a ‘shock rocker’ who built a career partly out of playing with gender expectations through theatrical shows, said that gender-affirming care for children is a “sad and dangerous fad”.

He also called the trans rights movement “laughable” and suggested that trans people being able to use toilets that align with their gender identity is dangerous.

Vampyre Cosmetics announced they would no longer be collaborating with the 75-year-old rocker just one day after he made the comments in an interview with Stereogum on Wednesday (23 August).

The “School’s Out’ singer, who is always seen with his trademark black eyeliner, had signed a deal with the goth-themed makeup brand to sell a collection of mascara, microphone-styled lipsticks and guitar and amp-shaped makeup palettes. 

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Vampyre Cosmetics, which describes itself as “proudly women owned, disabled owned and LGBT+ owned”, shared a grid post on Instagram announcing they were cutting the collaboration “in light of recent statements”.

The brand wrote: “We stand with all members of the LGBTQIA+ community and believe everyone should have access to healthcare.”

Cooper, whose real name is Vincent Damon Furnier, is among a number of male musicians – including Ne-Yo, Carlos Santana and Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley – who have sparked backlash recently for contentious comments about the trans community.

The ‘Godfather of Shock Rock’ told Stereogum: “I find it wrong when you’ve got a six-year-old kid who has no idea. He just wants to play, and you’re confusing [by] him telling him: ‘Yeah, you’re a boy, but you could be a girl if you want’.

“You’re still trying to find your identity, and yet here’s this thing going on, saying, ‘Yeah, but you can be anything you want. You can be a cat if you want to be. I mean, if you identify as a tree’.” 

Cooper’s remarks come at a time of increasing legislative attacks on gender-affirming care for trans youth in the US, despite the findings of a study in January which outlined the positive impacts on mental health and wellbeing, and doctors testifying that it is “life-saving care”.

Cooper went on to criticise “woke” healthcare-inclusive language, called the trans-rights movement “laughable” and a “huge comedy”, and attacked trans people using toilets that align with their gender identity, saying:  “A guy can walk into a woman’s bathroom at any time and just say, ‘I just feel like I’m a woman today’, and have the time of his life in there.”

“Somebody’s going to get raped, and the guy’s going to say: ‘Well, I felt like a girl that day, then I felt like a guy’. Where do you draw this line?”

There are already restrictions on which public toilets people can use in Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Dakota and Idaho, despite the evidence here is no evidence that trans people using toilets that align with their gender identity are a threat, while there is evidence that trans people are harassed in toilets themselves.