Elon Musk once again advocated out against sex change surgeries on Wednesday, calling them ‘harmful for mental health’.
Musk was replying to the Fox news report, about a study claiming that “those undergoing surgery were at significantly higher risk for depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and substance use disorders than those without surgery,” conducted by researchers from University of Texas and published in the ‘The Journal of Sexual Medicine‘. In his response, the tech mogul agreed with study’s findings saying, “Sex change surgery severely harms mental health”.
Musk has been outspoken against gender reaffirming surgeries calling them “deeply wrong”, even though one of his biological children Vivian is transgender. His strong opinions started soon after his daughter publicly came out as trans in 2022.
After turning 18, Vivian filed legal paperwork to alter her name and gender marker, explicitly stating in court records her desire to sever ties with her father. Subsequently, she has discussed openly about her upbringing, describing Musk’s lack of presence and harsh treatment, particularly highlighting his criticism of her feminine identity and queer orientation.
On the other hand, during an interview in 2024 with Jordan Peterson, a conservative psychologist, Musk stated that he had “lost” Vivian due to what he termed “the woke mind virus”. He additionally used her deadname whilst declaring she was “dead, killed by woke ideology.”
In response, Vivian challenged Musk’s characterisation of their relationship and her identity. She alleged, “he doesn’t know what I was like as a child because he quite simply wasn’t there,” whilst asserting that he had diminished her experiences to stereotypes and presented an inaccurate narrative of her life.
Following personal experiences and anti-trans stance, as X’s owner and one of the globe’s richest people, Musk has used his position to support anti-transgender perspectives, reducing safeguards for trans users on the platform whilst giving prominence to those who oppose gender-affirming healthcare.
He has connected his daughter’s gender transition directly to his opposition of progressive values, citing it as the catalyst for his stance against what he terms “wokeness.” Furthermore, he relocated his companies from California in opposition to the state’s transgender-supportive legislation, specifically those laws that protect trans students’ privacy from non-consensual disclosure to parents by schools.
