Tesla founder and Twitter CEO Elon Musk criticized the idea of allowing minors to undergo gender transition procedures on March 16, holding that children were being fed “propaganda” to convince them to undergo such “severe” treatments.
Musk’s revelation of his stance on the issue came in response to a video posted to Twitter on March 9 of Minnesota’s Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat, promoting such procedures as “life-affirming and life-saving health care.”
“When our children tell us who they are, it is our job as grownups to listen and to believe them,” Flanagan said. “That’s what it means to be a good parent.”
Disagreeing with that assessment, Musk replied Thursday: “Not when they’re fed propaganda by adults. Moreover, every child goes through an identity crisis before their personality/identity crystallizes. Therefore, we shouldn’t allow severe, irreversible surgery or sterilizing drugs that they may regret until at least age 18.”
Not when they’re fed propaganda by adults.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 16, 2023
Moreover, every child goes through an identity crisis before their personality/identity crystallizes.
Therefore, we shouldn’t allow severe, irreversible surgery or sterilizing drugs that they may regret until at least age 18.
Flanagan’s comments were made at a March 8 press conference, during which Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order supporting gender-affirming care in his state.
The order directs state agencies to coordinate to “protect people or entities who are providing, assisting, seeking, or obtaining” gender-affirming health services, including “all medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services, including telehealth services” an individual might seek to affirm their gender identity.
The directive prohibits the state from assisting other states’ law enforcement investigations into individuals seeking those services while also instructing state agencies to investigate and take “administrative actions” against “unfair or deceptive practices” relating to gender-affirming care.
“As states across the country move to ban access to gender-affirming care, we want LGBTQ Minnesotans to know they will continue to be safe, protected, and welcome in Minnesota,” Walz said in a statement. “In Minnesota, you will not be punished for seeking or providing medical care. This Executive Order delivers the urgent action that our LGBTQ Minnesotans deserve.”
The executive order coincides with the recent national push to allow minors injured by health care professionals who performed gender transition procedures on them to sue for medical malpractice.
