Billionaire Elon Musk spoke out Monday about his own son coming out as transgender, telling prominent Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson that his son was “killed by the virus of the awakened mind.”
During the discussion hosted by Peterson, the psychologist referred to Musk's recent move to move his company, SpaceX, out of California's headquarters after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new bill. 1955 Congressional Bill“The law allows schools to withhold information about a child's sexual orientation or gender identity from parents. As Musk explained the decision, Peterson asked why Musk was going to make “gender-affirming care” an “issue.” (Related: Elon Musk says SpaceX will move headquarters from California due to new LGBT laws)
“That's what happened with one of my older sons. I was tricked into signing papers for one of my older sons, Xavier, at a time when I had no idea what was going on. COVID-19 was happening at the time,” Musk said. “I was told that Xavier might commit suicide.”
“That's been a lie from the beginning,” Peterson responded. “No credible clinician believed it. There was never any evidence to support it, and even though there are high suicide rates, it's because of underlying depression and anxiety, not gender dysphoria. And every clinician knows that.”
Peterson continued to blame clinicians, saying he “can't imagine a worse situation for parents.”
My Conversation Elon MuskBroadcasting live today at 3pm ET. https://t.co/RyaZFmvC8i
— Dr. Jordan B. Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) July 22, 2024
“I agree that this is incredibly evil and the people who promote this should go to prison,” Musk said.
“I was tricked into doing this. I was never told that puberty suppressants were actually just fertility drugs,” Musk continued. “And I lost my son. There's a reason it's called deadnaming. It's called deadnaming because your son is dead. My son Xavier is dead. He was killed by the virus of the awakened mind.”
Musk first spoke about his 16-year-old son's gender transition last year in Walter Isaacson's biography, explaining how Xavier first texted Musk's brother about the transition and asked him not to keep the billionaire informed, the book reported. Musk initially responded generally favorably to the change, but Xavier cut ties with his father after becoming a Communist.
Since the incident, Musk has denounced California's policies on gender reassignment surgery and medicating minors, and blamed his son's ideology on Crossroads, the progressive Los Angeles school Xavier attended at the time.
Following Governor Newsom's approval of AB 1955 last week, Musk called the action a “last resort.” statement Speaking about X, he accused California of passing several laws that “attack both families and businesses.”
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