This generation of men can’t stand by what they believe.

In the latest example of gutless , feckless men in our culture , “So Sick” singer and father of seven, Ne-Yo, first dared to speak basic truths in public.

"I have no problem with LBGT … I have no problem with nobody, OK? Love who you love, do what you do," Ne-Yo told Gloria Velez for VladTV. "I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman. And there was two genders and that's just how I rocked.

"You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like, I don't care, that ain't my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game. I'm not gonna call you a goldfish. But you wanna be a goldfish, you be a goldfish,” Ne-Yo continued, before doing what no person is permitted to do in our supposedly enlightened society: Suggest that children don't have the ability to choose their gender.

"I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes to you and says, 'Daddy, I want to be a girl.' And you just let him rock with that?" Ne-Yo said. “If you let this 5-year-old little boy eat candy all day, he's gonna do that. Like, when did it become a good idea to let a 5-year-old, let a 6-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for themselves? When did that happen? Like, I don't understand that."

To recap, Ne-Yo said that he has no problem with the LGBT community, expressed his personal (and) generational position, and made a clear distinction between adults and children identifying as the wrong gender and the “life-changing” nature of such decisions.

Shocking, I know.

But unless you happily embrace the genital mutilation of children based on the ever-changing demands of the radical transgenderism movement, indeed, unless you help hold the scalpel, you are deemed an enemy by the woke mob.

Just hours later, Ne-Yo took to social media with a message replete with the standard bending-the-knee phrases expressing his “deepest apologies,” including words such as “offensive,” “empathy,” and of course the fan-favorite, “I plan to better educate myself.”

The fundamental problem here is that our culture has destroyed the virtue of standing by your beliefs. It’s important to note that Ne-Yo isn’t required to speak out on political issues. The conservative thirst for cultural representation doesn’t mean that celebrities, regardless of their beliefs, must share their opinions.

But here’s the thing: If you do speak out, you better mean it. And today, the virtue of saying what you mean is dead.

One of two things can be true here. Either Ne-Yo meant what he said during his interview, in which case his apology was empty and meaningless, or he didn’t mean what he said during his interview, in which case his words were empty and meaningless.

Ne-Yo is simply the latest symptom of a problem plaguing our society: Weak men who refuse to say what they believe and, more importantly, stand by what they believe when the woke mob bangs the drum of offense.

How can we possibly expect younger generations to hold any values in the future when the men of today can’t stand by their own words?

Ian Haworth is a columnist, speaker, and podcast host. You can follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth . You can also find him on Substack .