The singer spoke his mind in a recent VladTV interview, where he was talking to Gloria Velez. They touched on a number of topics, but eventually ... landed on transgenderism, especially as it relates to children.

He says he feels like a lot of people have lost sense of the definition of parenting -- because, in his mind, it boils down to being wiser than your kid ... and knowing when to put your foot down and say no. In this case, he believes affirming a child's gender identity is wrong.

Ne-Yo's rationale comes down to this ... transitioning genders is a life-altering decision, and he argues children (especially young ones) truly don't know what the hell they want, or on this particular topic ... what they even mean when they say they want to be a boy or a girl.

He hit his point home by saying this ... "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, 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."

One last thing ... Ne-Yo references California legislation, which he (somewhat mistakenly) says will make it so parents lose their kids if they don't affirm their child's gender identity.

It's not quite what he's describing -- but there is, in fact, a bill working its way through the CA legislature right now (AB 957) that would require a judge in custody disputes to consider whether a parent is affirming their kid's identity in determining who they stay with.