Elon Musk is fuelling global anti-trans hysteria by asserting that hormone therapy makes transgender people violent.
The billionaire CEO made this baseless statement on his X platform in response to a report from an anti-trans website concerning an individual arrested in Canada for allegedly raping a toddler.
Misleading and Misinformed Claims
The report claims that the accused identifies as trans, echoing narratives increasingly used by right-wing groups and individuals to maliciously highlight the alleged crimes of transgender people, regardless of relevance or context.
Commenting on the report, Musk stated: “Something is seriously wrong. Trans sex hormone drugs are driving extreme violence and should be banned.”
Despite lacking any scientific or factual basis, Musk shared this dangerous assertion with his 225 million followers on X.
Incorrect Linking of Violence and Trans Identity
The South African-born Musk recently also commented that “There is a clear pattern here” about the 27 August shooting in Minneapolis, USA, in which the shooter was said to identify as transgender. He echoed an increase in anti-transgender rhetoric that seeks to link transgender people to mass shootings.
However, evidence shows that the vast majority of mass shooters in the US are cisgender men, not transgender individuals. In fact, despite being less than 2% of the US adult population, transgender people are four times as likely to be victims of crime.
These false claims come amid moves to restrict transgender people’s access to gender-affirming care and to erase their identities from public life in the US and elsewhere.
Personal Bias
Musk’s comments appear to be influenced by personal bias. He has become estranged from his transgender daughter, Vivian Wilson. When she turned 18 in 2022, Wilson filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to legally change her name and gender.
In a public statement, she declared, “I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.” The court granted her petition, and she adopted her mother’s maiden name.
Musk, however, blamed her transition and their strained relationship on “neo-Marxist” influences at her elite university, claiming she had been “killed by the woke mind virus.”
In an interview with conservative commentator Jordan Peterson in 2024, Musk stated that he “vowed to destroy the woke mind virus” in response to his daughter’s gender transition.
