Elon Musk says he’s moving SpaceX to Texas over California ban on schools outing trans kids to their parents
Elon Musk announced he is moving his SpaceX headquarters out of California after the state’s governor signed a bill prohibiting school districts from disclosing students’ gender identity.
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday enacted the law, dubbed the SAFETY Act. It serves as a rebuke to parts of the state in which schools are required to inform parents of any changes to their child’s gender identity, like going by a different name or different pronouns.
In response to the new law, theTesla CEO wrote on X on Tuesday: “This is the final straw. Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”
“I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children,” he continued.
His social media platform will move to Austin, Texas, the X owner added.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has has passed legislationrestricting gender-affirming therapies for minors in his state, praised the move, posting on X: “This cements Texas as the leader in space exploration.”
The SpaceX founder’s decision arrives days after he endorsed Donald Trump in the wake of the assassination attempt against the former president.
During his presidency, Trump rolled back a host of LGBTQ+ protections and throughout his 2024 bid, he has touted anti-trans rhetoric on the campaign trail — even vowing to “revoke every Biden policy promoting the disfigurement of our youth” and to rescind Biden’s policy that expanded Title IX protections to LGBTQ+ students “on day one” of a second Trump term.
On X, Musk has voiced criticism of pronouns and