Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently expressed his controversial views regarding gender-affirming care for transgender youth during an interview with psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson. Musk claimed that his estranged daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, was “killed” by the care she received, prompting him to declare a mission to “destroy the woke mind virus.”
Musk criticized gender-reassignment surgery, referring to it as “child mutilation and sterilization.” He explained that Wilson, who transitioned at 16, received gender-affirming care during the pandemic. He stated that he felt deceived into allowing his son to undergo these treatments when he had limited understanding of the situation.
He further articulated his belief that such procedures are conducted on children who are not of legal consent age, agreeing with Peterson that promoting them is “incredibly evil” and warranting imprisonment for those involved. Musk, who has a total of 12 children, claimed that he was not informed that puberty blockers function as sterilization drugs, despite their effects on fertility being debated.
“I was tricked into doing this,” Musk lamented, adding that he feels he lost his son due to the transition. He also mentioned his daughter’s choice to change her name and to seek a new birth certificate to sever ties with him.
These comments followed Musk’s recent decision to relocate his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, to Texas in response to California’s AB1955, which impacts the rights of transgender students. Musk has faced accusations of transphobia and promoting anti-trans messages in the past.
In 2022, Wilson legally sought to distance herself from Musk, stating in court documents that she wishes to disassociate from him entirely. Musk has attributed their strained relationship to her schooling in Los Angeles, and his estrangement from Wilson has been suggested as a factor influencing his increasingly right-wing political stance.