Photo by Gage Skidmore.Subscribe nowElon Musk, the richest person in the world and the entrepreneur behind PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and X, has become one of the most powerfuland polarizingfigures in American politics. Since Trump took office, Musk has ascended to the (self-titled) position of first buddy and is now seen by many as the second person in charge of the nation.While Musk still holds the title of senior advisor to Trump and the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump has recently told his inner circle that Musk will leave soon.Despite this, Musks power and influence remain massive. Heres his complete track record on LGBTQ issues.CEO Elon MuskOct. 19, 2017Jorge Ferro, a former assembly line worker at Tesla, sues the company for wrongful termination. He alleges that the Musk-owned company ignored his reports of homophobic harassment at work and that his firing was retaliatory. Ferro says a manager told him to watch [his] back after telling him his clothing was gay tight.After Ferro files a second harassment report, he says an HR representative took his badge, saying that he had an injury that prevented him from working and that theres no place for handicapped people at Tesla. In response, Ferros attorney describes the decision as revolting and says that this is classic blame the victim.Tesla asserts that third-party companies hired both Ferro and the manager involved and that Tesla took appropriate action to separate the two individuals.During the same month, Tesla is sued by three Black former employees for racial harassment and discrimination. The three men claim their time at Tesla was like a scene straight from the Jim Crow era.July 24, 2020Screenshot via X.Elon Musk posts various tweets that mock the use of pronouns, writing, Pronouns suck. He follows this up on Dec. 14, 2020 by posting a meme that suggests people who post their pronouns in their bios are oppressive. After receiving backlash to his posts, Musk tweets: I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare. He later reposts a Tesla tweet from 2020 that says the company is Very proud to have scored 100/100 for the fourth year in a row in LGBTQ equality, in reference to the Human Rights Campaigns Corporate Equality Index. June 21, 2022At 18 years old, Musks daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, files a petition with the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Monica to change her name and receive a new birth certificate so that she may legally transition. At this time, she begins publicly distancing herself from Musk, saying she no longer wants to be related to [her] biological father in any way, shape or form.Oct. 11, 2022Selfie of Vivian Wilson.Musk blames his estrangement from Wilson on neo-Marxist influences from his daughters university. In an interview with the Financial Times, he says, Its full-on communism and a general sentiment that if youre rich, youre evil. [The relationship] may change, but I have very good relationships with all the other [children]. Cant win them all.Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused journalism. Musk Buys TwitterNov. 1, 2022Montclair State University publishes a study that compares hate speech on Twitter before and after Elon Musk buys it. In the week leading up to Musks acquisition of the company, tweets using hateful terms including insults on race, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation never rise above 84 instances an hour. But in the first twelve hours after Musk acquires the company, these terms are posted nearly 400 times an hour.Oct. 30, 2022When Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, suffers a fractured skull after being attacked in his San Francisco home by a hammer-wielding man, Musk tweets unfounded allegations about the incident to his 112 million followers. "There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye, he tweets, implying that Pelosi and the perpetrator are gay lovers. In the post, Musk cites the Santa Monica Observer, a far-right news outlet that regularly publishes false and misleading information. Musk has since deleted the post.In an interview with CNN, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticizes Musks rhetoric, saying, "It's really sad for the country that people of [such] high visibility would separate themselves from the facts and the truth in such a blatant way. It is traumatizing to those affected by it. They don't care about that, obviously, but it's destructive to the unity that we want to have in our country."Nov. 21, 2022Musk reinstates X accounts previously banned for engaging in antisemitic, homophobic, transphobic and racist harassment campaigns. This includes Andrew Tate, a manfluencer who has compared gay people to invasive, poisonous aliens and said the only way to avoid the normalization of trans people is a draft for WWIII. It also includes Alex Jones, who, in a now-deleted post from 2015, said that the Supreme Courts marriage equality ruling opens the door for pedo politicians.December 2022Musk falsely suggests that Yoel Roth, a gay Jewish man who was Twitters former head of trust and safety, promoted pedophilia in his academic research.These claims trigger a wave of homophobic harassment and threats against Roth. Fox Newss Laura Ingraham claims Roth stood with the deviancy, while Ben Shapiro falsely alleges Roth encouraged Grindr access for teens.The harassment escalates to the point where Roth and his family flee and sell their home after the Daily Mail publishes that they live in San Francisco.June 21, 2023In a post on X, Musk labels cis and cisgender as slurs. He adds that repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions.Shortly after Musks post, X begins restricting accounts attempting to post the terms and notifies them of the following: This post contains language that may be considered a slur by X and could be used in a harmful manner in violation of our rules.July 22, 2024In an interview with Jordan Peterson for the right-wing media outlet The Daily Wire, Musk deadnames and misgenders his transgender daughter, claiming he was tricked into letting her get gender-affirming medical care as a teenager and referring to her as dead.He says this is why he vows to destroy the woke mind virus. In response, Wilson tells NBC News that Musk is lying about her upbringing and says he was an absent father who harassed her for being too feminine. He was cold. Hes very quick to anger. He is uncaring and narcissistic. I was in fourth grade. We went on this road trip and he was constantly yelling at me viciously because my voice was too high. It was cruel.Subscribe nowSpecial Government Employee and Trumps First BuddyPhoto: The White House.Dec. 28, 2024Musk writes an op-ed for the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, where he expresses support for the countrys far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD). The party is deeply anti-LGBTQ: opposing same-sex marriage and gender-affirming care for trans people; supporting abolishing the position of a federal government commissioner on queer rights; and voting for bans on the use of gender-neutral language in schools. Only the AfD can save Germany, Musk writes.March 6, 2025The Department of Government Efficiency, run by Musk, announces the termination of a handful of research grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), many of which fund scientific research related to gender-affirming healthcare, HIV prevention and studies focused on AIDS. One researcher is notified in an email from NIH that says the agency no longer supports research based on gender identity.March 2025In an interview with Teen Vogue, Wilson criticizes her father for mischaracterizing her in Walter Isaacsons biography as being an angry, rebellious child influenced by Marxism.She clarifies that she is not a Marxist, reveals she has not spoken to her father since 2020, and describes him as a pathetic man-child.Musk indirectly responds to the Teen Vogue interview by baselessly and repeatedly claiming transgender people are violent due to hormone replacement therapy.In direct response to Musk deadnaming her on X, Vivian uses a popular quote from RuPauls Drag Race, stating, I look pretty good for a dead bitch.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media