Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, revealed in a live interview with psychologist Jordan Peterson on Monday that he was “tricked” into allowing his child to undergo puberty blockers.
The conversation, streamed on X, touched on Musk’s decision to relocate SpaceX’s headquarters from California due to the state’s new legislation, Assembly Bill 1955.
This law allows schools to keep a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity confidential from their parents.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on July 15, 2024, prompting Musk to speak out.
When Peterson asked about his motivation, Musk shared his personal experience with his child, Xavier, who now identifies as transgender and goes by the name Vivian Jenna Wilson.
“It’s evil. You’re taking kids who are far below the age of consent,” Musk said.
“It’s very possible for adults to manipulate children who are having an actual identity crisis into believing that they are the wrong gender.”
Musk recounted his experience: “Well, it happened to one of my older boys. I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys, Xavier. This was really before I had any understanding of what was going on, and we had COVID going on, so there was a lot of confusion. And I was told Xavier might commit suicide.”
Peterson responded, “That was a lie right from the outset. No reliable clinician ever believed that. There was never any evidence for that, and also, if there is a higher suicide rate, the reason is the underlying depression and anxiety and not because of the gender dysphoria. And every god-d*** clinician knows that, too, and they’re too cowardly to come out and say it.”
Musk continued, “It’s incredibly evil. And I agree with you that the people that are promoting this should go to prison. I was tricked into doing this. It wasn’t explained to me that puberty blockers are actually just sterilization drugs. I lost my son, essentially. They call it ‘deadnaming’ for a reason. The reason they call it ‘deadnaming’ is because your son is dead, so my son, Xavier, is dead, killed by the woke mind virus.”
“So I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that. And we’re making some progress.”
A preprint study by the Mayo Clinic earlier this year linked puberty blockers to irreversible long-term fertility issues in boys, contradicting previous claims that the effects are reversible. The Mayo Clinic website states that puberty blockers, specifically GnRH analogues, are used to pause puberty in transgender and gender-diverse youth by stopping the production of sex hormones, effectively halting physical changes associated with puberty.
Vivian Musk, formerly known as Xavier, publicly announced her transgender identity in June 2022 at the age of 18 and petitioned to legally change her name to Vivian and adopt her mother’s surname. “I no longer want to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” Vivian said.
Musk announced plans last week to relocate the headquarters of SpaceX and X to Texas, citing the new California law that prohibits schools from informing parents about changes to a student’s gender identity.
“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,” Musk wrote on X.
During the interview, Musk disclosed that he had previously warned the governor that he would relocate his company if the bill was signed into law, indicating that his decision was not spontaneous but a planned reaction to the legislation.