Tesla CEO Elon Musk has ignited a firestorm of mixed reactions online by announcing that he lost "my son Xavier" due to what he describes as being "essentially tricked into signing documents" for his child's gender transition.
In a discussion with psychologist and conservative commentator Dr. Jordan Peterson, Musk vehemently criticized gender-reassignment surgery, referring to it as "child mutilation and sterilization."
He specifically spoke about his 20-year-old child, Vivian Jenna Wilson, who underwent the procedures during the pandemic.
Xavier Musk filed court documents in California stating, “I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” and asked to be renamed Vivian Jenna Wilson, with the last name belonging to Elon Musk's first wife, Justine Wilson.
The SpaceX founder accused the system of targeting children "who are far below the age of consent" and agreed with Peterson's assertion that those promoting such practices should be imprisoned.
Peterson and Musk recorded the interview at the Tesla Gigafactory near Austin on Monday.
Musk further blamed what he termed the "woke mind-virus" for his child's transition, claiming he was misled into consenting to what he called experimental procedures during a chaotic period exacerbated by the pandemic.
"I was tricked into doing this," Musk added. "I lost my son, essentially. They call it deadnaming for a reason. The reason they call it deadnaming is because your son is dead."
“It happened to one of my older boys... I was essentially tricked into signing documents for … Xavier.”
“This was before I had really any understanding what was going on, we had COVID going on … there was a lot of confusion.”
“My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind-virus,” Musk said.
The conversation also touched on Musk's decision to relocate his companies from California to Texas after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation allowing children to identify as "LGBTQ+" without parental notification.
“It’s not the one straw, it’s the final straw … I had conversations with Gavin Newsom before, where I said, If you pass legislation like this, if you sign legislation like this, that in my view puts children in danger. I will move my companies out of California," Musk replied.
“The so-called gender-affirming care, which is a terrible euphemism, it’s really child sterilization … child mutilation. It’s evil.”
“The reality is that almost every child goes through some kind of identity crisis. It’s very possible for adults to manipulate children, who are having a natural identity crisis, into believing that they are the wrong gender, that they need to be the other gender … and that will solve their problems.”
“And then they give them sterilizing drugs, also known as puberty blockers … they have double mastectomies, mutilation,” Musk added.
“We have an age of consent for a reason. The reason you can’t get, say, tattoos below age 18, or drink … If we allow children to take permanent actions when they’re 10, 12, 14 years old, they will do things they subsequently regret,” he said.
“I was told Xavier might commit suicide … incredibly evil... 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 it’s called deadnaming is because your son is dead,” Musk added. “My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind-virus.”
“I agree with you,” Musk nodded to Peterson’s prior statement, “that the people who are promoting this are going to prison.”
“I vowed to destroy the woke mind-virus after that. And we’re making some progress.”
The interview has sparked intense debate online, with some supporting Musk's stance and others condemning his views as harmful and insensitive to the transgender community.
