Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that he would move the headquarters of his aerospace company SpaceX and social media company X out of California after California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill that bars school districts from requiring parents to notify if a child decides to change their gender identity.
“This is the final straw. Because of this law and many previous laws that attack both families and businesses, SpaceX will be moving our headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Starbase, Texas,” Musk said. Written on Tuesday, X.
“I made it very clear to Governor Newsom nearly a year ago that this type of legislation would force families and businesses to leave California to protect their children.” The SpaceX CEO added:.
he Later he said X, which is acquired in 2022, plans to relocate its headquarters from San Francisco to Austin, Texas.
“I’m tired of having to avoid groups of violent drug addicts to get in and out of my building.” Musk wrote:.
The move comes one day after Governor Newsom signed a bill that prohibits school officials from “dumping” a student to a parent or anyone else without the student’s permission.
Supporters of the bill said it’s an important measure to protect LGBTQ students at a time when political rhetoric around gender identity in schools has become increasingly tense.
The Hill has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
Musk has faced criticism in the past over his personal posts about the LGBTQ community and over content moderation changes he has made to X since acquiring the platform for $44 billion, which some civil rights groups say have negatively impacted members of the LGBTQ community and made them more vulnerable to online harassment.
Earlier this year, X updated its abuse and harassment rules to reinstate restrictions on content that misgenders or deadnames individuals.
The change comes less than a year after X, under Musk’s leadership, lifted its ban on content that uses transgender people’s pre-transition names (known as deadnames) or content that intentionally misgenders people.
