Elon Musk Ignites Backlash with Pronouns Gripe
SpaceX founder and billionaire innovator Elon Musk ignited a firestorm of controversy this week with a Dec. 14 tweet in which he dissed the practice of listing one's preferred pronouns. Now he's continuing to fan the flames, CNBC reports.
"Musk's initial tweet included the words 'when you put he/him in ur bio,' alongside a picture of a soldier rubbing bloody hands on his face," CNBC recalled.
Forbes noted in response that a remark such as this "tends to be interpreted as an attack on trans people, for obvious reasons, and is often viewed as a distasteful thing for an account with more than 40 million followers to do."
Faced with immediate pushback, Musk doubled down with a followup tweet in which he said, "I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare."
At this point, critiques surfaced of Musk's own son being named X � A-12, the New York Post reported.
"After what you initially named your own child, this tweet is truly ironic," opined openly gay "Star Trek" icon and LGBTQ equality advocate George Takei.
Matthew Chapman struck a similar tone, posting, "Imagine naming your infant son 'X � A-12,' and then complaining about how hard it is to call trans people by the right pronouns."
When Musk tried referencing his company's perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Index, which tracks the policies and practices of corporations with respect to their LGBTQ employees, that, too, drew pointed responses - including this, from the organization's former press secretary, Charlotte Clymer: "Not sure what made you wake up today and think 'you know what, I'll s— on people's pronouns', but that's kinda the opposite of LGBTQ inclusivity."
The HRC's president, Alphonso David, also responded, the Post reported in a followup article.
"Elon Musk's tweet mocking pronouns is exactly the opposite of what inclusive leadership looks like today," David said. "It's also decidedly out of step with the best practices we advise companies."
The flap is a sequel of sorts to an incident last summer in which Musk dashed off a July 24 tweet that read, "Pronouns suck." His partner, the singer and producer Grimes, publicly chided him, posting, "I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a dall [sic].
"I cannot support hate," Grimes added. "Please stop this. I know this isn't your heart."
Forbes noted that Musk's tweets are "ironic" in light in Grimes having expressed skepticism around pronouns. "I vibe in a gender neutral space so I'm kinda impartial to pronouns for myself," the singer mused in a now-deleted tweet, going on to add, "I wish I didn't have to be categorized as female constantly. Everything I ever hear about Grimes is super gendered and it's always really made me uncomfortable."
Have a look at some of the tweets Musk has prompted in reply to his remarks.