Elon Musk's Trans Child Files To Change Last Name To Cut Ties With Father

The daughter of Elon Musk was reported on Saturday to be changing both her gender identification as well as her name, formally dropping Musk’s last name for her mother’s maiden name due to not wanting to associate with the Tesla mogul.

Elon Musk’s transgender daughter, whose identity has been hidden from the public for privacy reasons, filed the petition in the California Superior Court in April to change her gender identity and her last name to her mother Justine Musk’s (née Wilson), according to the Daily Beast.

Among her reasons is that “[she] no longer live[s] with or wish[es] to be related to [her] biological father in any way, shape or form.” While his ex-wife Justine has yet to comment on the name change publicly, Musk has asked for privacy regarding his child.

“She does not want to be a public figure. I think it is important to defend her right to privacy. Please don’t out someone against their will—it’s not right,” he said.

Despite having a transgender daughter, Musk’s rhetoric regarding transgender people has been wishy-washy, denouncing pronouns in one tweet while attempting to reaffirm his support for the trans community in another. Recently, he controversially tweeted about the idea of gender differences.

“[W]e are simultaneously being told that gender differences do not exist and that genders are so profoundly different that irreversible surgery is the only option,” he wrote. “Perhaps someone wiser than me can explain this dichotomy.”

In spite of these perspectives, however, Musk’s two children with indie pop singer Grimes – whose identity is “gender neutral,” – are reportedly being raised through a gender-neutral parenting scheme by the singer.

“I don't want to gender them in case that's not how they feel in their life,” Grimes said.

Meanwhile, Musk, who has claimed to be a “free speech absolutist,” fired at least five employees from SpaceX on Thursday after they published a letter criticizing Musk and asking for a more inclusive work culture, The Guardian reported.

The letter demanded that “SpaceX must swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Elon’s personal brand,” asking the workforce to “[hold] all leadership equally accountable to making SpaceX a great place to work for everyone.”

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president, fired the employees because she believes the letter made other employees feel “uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views.”