“This is the last straw,” Elon Musk wrote on X, commenting on his decision to move Space X and X headquarters to Texas after a new California gender-identity law.
“Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas,” the Elon Musk post concludes.
According to the Orange County Register, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that prohibits school districts from requiring that parents be notified of their child’s sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identification change without the student’s consent.
The issue of what schools should tell parents about their children’s gender identities has become a major topic of debate in the United States. The new California bill has parents complaining that the State takes the role of the parents on the issue.
On the other hand, the LGBTQ+ community argues that students have a right to privacy in regards to their sexual orientation.
In a previous post on X, the billionaire wrote that he “did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”
California is the first state to ban school rules requiring parents get notified of children’s pronoun changes.
According to a BBC report, last year, Elon Musk said that he would lobby to criminalize transgender medical treatment that would lead to what he described as “severe, irreversible changes to children below the age of consent.”
Southern California school district sues Gov. Newsome
The Chino Valley Unified School District and a number of parents have sued Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday over the new bill, AP reported.
They argue that the bill violates the rights of parents protected under the US Constitution. Specifically, they say that they have the right to know what their minor children are doing at school and that school officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents.
Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon called the lawsuit “deeply unserious” and said the new law “preserves the child-parent relationship.”
“California law ensures minors can’t legally change their name or gender without parental consent,” Gardon told AP, adding that , “We’re confident the state will swiftly prevail in this case.”
The LBGTQ+ community say that the ban in California will help protect transgender and gender-nonconforming students who live in unwelcoming households.
In regards to the new California law, Elon Musk, father of a transgender daughter, has previously stated that he is in support of transgender people, however he is not fond of the new pronouns, which he has called an “aesthetic nightmare”.