Noted J.K. Rowling apologist Elon Musk has yet again weighed in on transgender topics, praising the British government’s decision to continue its emergency ban on puberty blockers.
For context, a British High Court judge recently moved to uphold a ban on the medical treatment that was first introduced in March of this year. The activist group TransActual then led a motion to challenge the ban, which Mrs Justice Lang discarded yesterday on the basis of there being “very substantial risks and very narrow benefits” to using puberty blockers.
Of course, this ruling flies in the face of what many trans people believe to be true: that puberty blockers are a valuable form of treatment for sufferers of gender dysphoria, allowing trans youth more time to consider options that could later include gender reassignment. At the time of the initial ban earlier this year, activists warned that being unable to access hormone blockers would lead to an increase in child suicides.
Musk has taken to social media to praise the ruling and the “common sense in the UK,” he wrote on X. The billionaire went so far as to suggest the ban “should be applied in the US as soon as possible.” It’s worth noting that although accessible in the US, restrictions around puberty blockers — and transgender childcare in general — have tightened over the last few years, with Kansas Senator Beverly Gossage pointing to the UK in March to support a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for US minors.
We know that Musk isn’t exactly who we should look to for insight about trans issues, not least because — spoiler alert — he isn’t trans. Just this month, the billionaire got into a heated debate online with his trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, who publicly disowned him after he claimed she was “killed” by a “woke mind virus.” Even if there was a vaccine for this “woke mind virus”, Musk would probably be against it.
In the same interview criticized by his daughter, Musk — who seemingly isn’t content with political machinations and space races — accused those involved in Wilson’s gender transition of “child mutilation and sterilization.”
To top it all off, Musk’s recent tweet was in reply to J.K. Rowling, who herself has long stoked controversy with her transphobic comments. Despite creating a fantasy world like Harry Potter, it’s somehow beyond Rowling’s imagination that trans women are, in fact, women.
It’s not the first time these two have tried to out-TERF each other. In July, Musk again showed support for Rowling’s views on transgender issues, saying she was “absolutely right” for basically negating the existence of gender dysphoria.
It’s a sad yet unsurprising development for Musk, who for some reason continues to make headlines rather than retreating away to some island with all his billions.
