Elon Musk Melts Down Over California’s New Pro-Trans Law
Musk says he will relocate SpaceX to Texas over a California law prohibiting the "outing" of transgender students.
Elon Musk, the CEO of spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX, announced that he plans to relocate both companies from California to Texas in response to recent pro-transgender legislation.
The law that prompted Musk’s tantrum, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) on July 15, and scheduled to take effect in January, prevents school officials and teachers from “outing” students who identify as transgender or nonbinary to their parents.
“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”
This is the final straw.
Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas. https://t.co/cpWUDgBWFe
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
In another post, he claimed to have warned Newsom that pro-transgender laws would “force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”
I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
Musk later added that X’s headquarters would move from San Francisco to Austin, although he did not cite the transgender “outing” prohibition. Instead, he appeared to refer to crime and homelessness as the motivating factors in that case.
“And X HQ will move to Austin,” he added. “Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building.”
Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
Musk’s tweets read like a litany of oft-vocalized Republican grievances against liberal governance and various societal ills — which is not surprising, given his support for former President Donald Trump, his opposition to so-called “wokeness” and political correctness in favor of “free speech” (at least for conservative users), and the venom he regularly spouts toward transgender individuals.
Some have speculated that Musk’s opposition to the law may be personal.
In 2022, People magazine reported that his then-18-year-old daughter was granted permission to change gender, taking on the name Vivian Jenna Wilson, with her surname being the maiden name of her mother, Justine Wilson.
When asked about his estrangement from his transgender daughter in an interview with the Financial Times, Musk responded, “Can’t win them all,” and claimed to have good relationships with his other children.
In that interview, he also blamed his estrangement from his daughter on indoctrination by “neo-Marxists” at educational institutions. “It’s full-on communism… and a general sentiment that if you’re rich, you’re evil,” he said.
Some pro-trans advocates have speculated Musk may see himself in, and sympathize with, parents who do not wish to affirm their children’s gender identity, viewing the prohibition on “outing” as an intrusion into the parent-child relationship, or even taking a side in the culture wars by encouraging children to pursue social transition.
But Ryan Coogan, an editor of the United Kingdom newspaper The Independent, speculated in a column that Musk’s decision to relocate is not actually based on his opposition to the ban on forced “outings” — although claiming that it is plays to people with ideological beliefs similar to Musk’s own.
“Musk’s preoccupation with transgender issues is well documented,” Coogan wrote, listing various times that the X owner expressed opposition to transgender visibility or shared transphobic content.
“However, Musk isn’t the only business owner to flee California in recent months. The state’s higher taxes and minimum wage laws have caused several businesses to seek greener pastures in recent months, including Neutrogena, QuickFee, Oak View Group, Unical Aviation, and Blaze Pizza.
“Once a haven for tech and business innovation, bills introduced by Newsom have resulted in an exodus for a number of industries, with many moving to Texas, where business regulations are significantly laxer,” Coogan wrote. He also noted that The Independent previously reported that Musk had been seeking to sublease X’s San Francisco headquarters — an indication that the move to Texas had been planned long before Newsom signed the transgender bill into law.
Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, moved the automaker’s corporate headquarters from California to Texas in 2021, ostensibly in response to the state’s lockdowns during the COVID pandemic. However, Musk maintained the company’s Palo Alto office as an “engineering headquarters.”
“Regardless of the reason, the departure of businesses as big as those owned by Musk will be a blow to the California economy,” Coogan wrote. “It’s another indication that the state’s liberal idealism is struggling to accommodate industry’s desire for more right-leaning economic policies such as deregulation and tax breaks, and a further indication that the tide is turning for America’s blue states.
“Nevertheless, it seems to me that Musk’s willingness to blame the move on legislation intended to protect transgender children is a cynical abuse of his wealth to push for increasingly radical social changes that favor the right,” Coogan continued. “The fact that Musk would use his influence to throw a tantrum to try and discredit such legislation is pathetic, and — in my eyes — shows us exactly what kind of person he is.”
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