Dolly Parton Reaffirms Support For Trans Community After Kid Rock Collaboration

Dolly Parton is reaffirming her love for the trans community in the midst of all the anti-trans legislation being proposed or passed in the United States.

The iconic singer recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the release of her first ever rock album, coming later this month. Rockstar features a number of high-profile collaborations, including one with Kid Rock—which left people a little antsy after his virtue signaling stunt over the Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light controversy.

Parton addressed working with him, saying that they recorded before Kid Rock decided to shoot up a bunch of beers in protest of Bud Light sending a custom can to a trans influencer. But she says she’d “have probably still done it, because he is a gifted guy.”

“Somebody was talking to me the other day, ‘How could you do this [song] with Kid?’ I said, ‘Hey, just because I love you don’t mean I don’t love Kid Rock. Just because I love Kid Rock don’t mean I don’t love you.’ I don’t condemn or criticize. I just accept and love.”

Of course, there’s a difference between loving someone and platforming them when they use that platform to push an agenda that’s intended to harm people. But Parton was asked about her thoughts on Tennessee’s anti-trans laws, and took a moment to reaffirm her support for the whole LGBTQ+ community.

“Well, what I always say, ‘I just want everybody to be treated good.’ I try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it,” she said, adding that she’s got “some of everybody” among her family and employees.

“I know and love them all, and I do not judge,” the singer declared. “And I just see how broken-hearted they get over certain things and I know how real they are. I know how important this is to them. That’s who they are. They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton.”