Billionaire Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that he plans to relocate the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X from California to Texas.
This decision comes in response to a new law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday,
which prevents school districts from requiring staff to inform parents about their child's gender identity changes. Musk referred to this law as the "final straw."
Expressing his dissatisfaction, Musk stated on X, "This is the final straw," following the bill's signing, which has intensified ongoing cultural conflicts in the midst of a contentious U.S. election year. He declared that due to this law and other similar ones that have targeted families and businesses, SpaceX will move its headquarters from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.
Musk also mentioned relocating X, formerly known as Twitter, from its San Francisco headquarters to Austin. He has previously threatened this move but never followed through. "Have had enough of dodging gangs of violent drug addicts just to get in and out of the building," Musk wrote.
Previously, Musk relocated Tesla's headquarters from Palo Alto in Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, while still maintaining an "engineering headquarters" in California. He has been vocal against the use of preferred pronouns, mocking the practice on social media and labeling it part of a "woke" agenda he considers harmful to society.
Musk, who has a trans daughter with whom he is estranged, attributes her political leanings and estrangement to her education at a California private school.
Governor Newsom signed the new law after a heated legislative process, which saw school boards advocating for parental rights clashing with LGBTQ activists concerned about protecting vulnerable students. This law overturns decisions in conservative school districts that mandated teachers inform parents if a student changed their name or pronouns or used facilities or participated in programs not matching their official gender.
Newsom, viewed as a potential Democratic presidential candidate, has often been at odds with conservatives over gender issues in state schools.
Last year, he enacted a law imposing fines on school districts that ban textbooks depicting LGBTQ individuals and other marginalized groups and had disputes with a conservative school board over the inclusion of gay rights figure Harvey Milk in the curriculum.
Musk has also previously clashed with Newsom during the COVID-19 pandemic over public health decisions.
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