Elon Musk is done with California after Newsom signs bill targeting parental rights
The new law, California Assembly Bill 1955, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, aims to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ pupils at schools. However, critics argue that the law erodes parents’ rights. Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk strongly disagrees with the law and has threatened to move his companies, including SpaceX and X, out of California due to this legislation. Musk believes that laws like AB 1955 force families and companies to leave California to protect their children. This move could have significant implications for the state, as SpaceX alone employs about 13,000 people.
A new law claiming to protect LGBT children could drive families — and companies — out of California.
Billionaire tech mogul (and apparent new Trump megadonor) Elon Musk has said as much, and he appears ready to put his money where his mouth is.
In a post Tuesday on his X social media platform, Musk blasted California Assembly Bill 1955, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday.
AB 1955, dubbed by Democrats as the “Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth” Act, arms public schools with newfound legal powers when it comes to information they can withhold from a child’s parents.
“LGBTQ+ pupils have the right to express themselves freely at school without fear, punishment, or retaliation, including that teachers or administrators might ‘out’ them without their permission,” the legislation says. “Policies that require outing pupils without their consent violate pupils’ rights to privacy and self-determination.”
Its most contentious points involve its jurisdiction over what’s described as “forced outing.”
“Parents and families have an important role to play in the lives of young people,” the legislation says. “Studies confirm that LGBTQ+ youth thrive when they have parental support and feel safe sharing their full identities with them, but it can be harmful to force young people to their full identities before they are ready.”
As The Mercury News in San Jose put it: “The bill makes California the first state to explicitly prohibit what critics called ‘forced outing’ policies that some school districts adopted, requiring that they notify parents when students request to use a different name or pronoun than what’s on their birth certificate or school records.”
The legislation’s critics have denounced AB 1955 for eroding parents’ rights — a sentiment with which Musk wholeheartedly agrees.
“So the state is the parent in California now?” an X user with more than 850,000 followers posted as a question for Newsom.
Musk picked up on that remark and made it clear just how much he disagrees with AB 1955.
“This is the final straw,” he posted on Tuesday.
The tech mogul then dropped the hammer: “Because of this law and many others that preceded it, attacking both familes and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”
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. https://t.co/cpWUDgBWFe
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
In a follow-up, he said X would move its headquarters from San Francisco to Austin, Texas.
And 𝕏 HQ will move to Austin https://t.co/LUDfLEsztj
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
Musk noted that he had personally warned Newsom about these potential consequences.
“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 posted.
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
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024
According to Fortune, SpaceX has about 13,000 employees.
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