Billionaire X CEO Elon Musk said that gay people should have children to ensure the “continuance of civilization.”
Musk recently posted a set of political positions he holds, which he claimed were “centrist.” They read like a laundry list of conservative views, including opposition to unfettered immigration, large amounts of government spending, and opposition to allowing minors to access gender-affirming medical treatments.
“My positions are centrist,” Musk wrote. “Secure borders. Safe & clean cities. Don’t bankrupt America with spending. Racism against any race is wrong. No sterilization below age of consent.”
Musk also claimed that his positions are part of a “battle to the death with the anti-civilizational woke mind virus.”
This is a battle to the death with the anti-civilizational woke mind virus.
My positions are centrist:
– Secure borders
– Safe & clean cities
– Don’t bankrupt America with spending
– Racism against any race is wrong
– No sterilization below age of consentIs this right-wing? https://t.co/QgRkoem2u4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2024
He later followed up that post with another that read, “And, although it shouldn’t need to said, I believe in the Constitution and freedom of speech.”
Musk’s original post was met with a host of replies decrying the political and cultural Left in the United States as influenced by the “woke mind virus,” claiming that left-wing positions have led society to coddle criminals, have led to an increase in mental health problems and anxiety, led to greater division along racial lines, and led more people to identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming.
Many commenters also accused liberals of embracing further-left political positions, arguing that Musk isn’t right-wing at all.
One person who replied to Musk’s post wrote, “Do you love the gays though, Elon?”
“My observation is that people are born one way or another — it is not a choice,” Musk responded. “People should find mutual love and happiness where their heart leads them. I only ask of my gay friends that they have children for the continuance of civilization.”
It’s not clear why Musk cares about LGBTQ people having children. It’s apparently an unpopular stance to hold on X, as many of the people who commented on his post disagreed with the idea of allowing LGBTQ people to reproduce or raise children.
However, Musk’s decision to cast reproduction as essential to the continuance of civilization appears to echo the pro-natalist rhetoric that right-wing populists in Europe and Latin America have adopted.
It also echoes some of the talking points embraced by those who believe in some strain of the “great replacement theory,” a theory in which Western civilization is being slowly eroded and that immigrants from developing countries are replacing Westerners, changing the racial makeup and cultural values of host countries.
Last year, Musk’s ex-partner, out musician Grimes, told Wired magazine that she tried to understand the roots of Musk’s public transphobia (the X CEO has been outspoken about his opposition to transgender visibility and the idea of affirming a person’s gender identity).
“I was like, ‘I want to dissect why you’re so stressed about this,'” Grimes told the magazine. “And it came down to pretty much every way that you transition can cause fertility issues.
“I was like, OK, you don’t hate trans people, you hate woke culture. I get that it can be annoying, and you have concerns about the fertility thing. So let’s figure it out, because there’s a lot of fertility tech that could be innovated that would help trans people have kids, which would be great and would solve a lot of problems,” Grimes added. “He’s just on [X], and he’s unhappy with woke people, and the arguments happened.”
That alleged obsession with fertility also aligns with the pro-natalist positions that Musk has adopted about the importance of reproducing and maintaining high birth rates so that societies can continue to sustain themselves.
Since Musk took over the platform formerly known as Twitter, he has cast himself as a “free speech advocate” who does not censor right-wing pundits or viewpoints, including people who deny transgender existence or oppose legal recognition or protections for transgender people.
Some studies have claimed that expressions of anti-LGBTQ hate or animus have spiked since his takeover. Musk also regularly shares and replies to anti-transgender posts from users with anti-LGBTQ views, such as Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok and Daily Wire pundit and podcaster Matt Walsh.
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