Elon Musk has a history of using pronouns as punchlines, leaving some to wonder what the billionaire truly thinks of LGBT people.
Musk is dominating the headlines of late with his takeover of Twitter. Since taking ownership, Musk has reinstated numerous ring-wing accounts that were previously banned, including former President Donald Trump.
On more than one occasion, Musk has taken direct aim at the LGBT community by tweeting out sarcastic memes, inflaming the “groomer” controversy and turning gender identifiers into insults.
“My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Musk tweeted last month.
Musk ended Twitter’s COVID-19 misinformation policy and has been a skeptic of the U.S. government’s handling of the pandemic. Not long after his jab at Dr. Anthony Fauci, Musk tweeted out a meme of a masked figure stabbed by multiple vaccine shots and covered with logos of Black Lives Matter, Planned Parenthood, CNN, Google and the proletarian hammer and sickle.
Standing in front of a Pride Progress Flag with an Islamic star and crescent, the figure says “they brainwashed you” to a blond-haired, bearded white man holding an American flag, who responds, “Really?”
“I’m not brainwashed!!” Musk tweeted.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Musk blamed the culture of elite colleges for his estrangement from his transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson.
“It’s full-on communism … and a general sentiment that if you’re rich, you’re evil,” Musk told the newspaper.
Some might argue what Musk did to Yoel Roth was evil. Musk falsely accused Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, of attempting to sexualize children in his doctoral dissertation on the gay hookup app Grindr. The charge unleashed a torrent of online hate that rekindled QAnon “groomer” conspiracies, forcing the gay Jewish man into hiding.
The entire episode was foreshadowed in a statement by the Human Rights Campaign in October when Musk carried a sink into Twitter headquarters.
“We are very concerned about Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter. Musk has pledged to restore the accounts of dangerous people who push extremism and disinformation. When this happens, Twitter - a place where many marginalized people, including LGBTQ+ people, find both community and face an onslaught of hate - will quickly become even more hostile,” said Jay Brown, HRC senior vice president of Programs, Research and Training.
Some have already had enough. Elton John left the platform in December prompting the Washington Post to write, “Musk Drags Twitter Down a Dangerous Rabbit Hole.”
Lastly, the one hole it seems Musk won’t be entering is the one his Boring Company proposed to dig in Fort Lauderdale. The project would allow for quicker beach access for electric cars like the ones Musk’s other company, Tesla, sells.
“I think it’s a done deal, It’s dead … It’s stupid,” Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Warren Sturman told the Sun Sentinel.
