Elon Musk’s Transgender Child Wants To Change Their Name And Cut Ties With Father

One of Elon Musk's eight children has petitioned a Los Angeles court to recognize her new name and gender, saying she no longer wishes to be related to her famous and wealthy father "in any way, shape or form."

Per CNN, the petition was filed by Xavier Alexander Musk, who turned 18 earlier this year and made the filing with a county court soon thereafter. She requests that her name be changed to Vivian Jenna Wilson, taking the last name of her mother, Justine Wilson, Musk's ex-wife and mother of five of his children. There is a hearing for the case set for this Friday.

The Tesla CEO has been criticized for some of his statements on Twitter regarding gender identity issues. For example, in December 2020 he posted a tweet (which he has since deleted) that said "when you put he/him in your bio" alongside a drawing of an 18th-century soldier rubbing blood on his face in front of a pile of dead bodies and wearing a cap that read "I love to oppress."

In response to criticism of that tweet, Musk wrote on Twitter: "I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare."

The SpaceX founder pointed out that Tesla had scored a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign as being one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality," and has maintained that rating this year.

Musk has also said on Twitter that he is leaning toward supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 presidential election. DeSantis recently pushed for and signed legislation, known as the "Don't Say Gay" law, to limit discussions of homosexuality and trans issues in the state's public schools.

Elon Musk struck a deal on Monday to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion, according to The New York Times. Twitter agreed to sell itself to Mr. Musk for $54.20 a share, a 38 percent premium over the company’s share price this month before he revealed he was the firm’s single largest shareholder. Musk has said that he plans to take the company private.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement. He said he wanted “to make Twitter better than ever.”

Before the deal was closed, Musk tweeted, "I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means." It's noteworthy that Musk has a history of trying to shut down, silence or punish anyone who goes public with criticism of a his projects or practices (Fortune has a lengthy report on that). Musk has also blocked people on Twitter, including 19-year old Jack Sweeny, who created a Twitter bot that tracks Musk’s Gulfstream private jet and posts real-time updates of its location from publicly available data.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518623997054918657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1518623997054918657%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxbusiness.com%2Ftechnology%2Felon-musk-takes-to-twitter-to-explain-what-free-speech-means

Check out how some Twitter users are responding.