Elon Musk has announced plans to relocate the headquarters of SpaceX and X from California to Texas in response to a new law in California that grants more freedom of gender identity to schoolchildren.
Musk revealed on Tuesday that SpaceX’s headquarters will be moving from Hawthorne, California to a location near Brownsville, Texas. Additionally, he stated that X’s headquarters will be relocated from San Francisco, California to Austin, Texas.
The decision to move was triggered by a law signed on Monday, which Musk referred to as the “final straw” that necessitated the relocation.
Governor Gavin Newsom of California signed a groundbreaking law on Monday that prohibits school districts from mandating parental notification when a student changes their gender identity or sexual orientation.
In a follow-up message on X, Musk mentioned, “I did warn Governor Newsom about a year ago that such laws would compel families and businesses to leave California in order to safeguard their children.”
Musk has faced criticism for posting anti-transgender content on X and implementing restrictive policies related to LGBTQ+ content. In 2023, a prominent LGBTQ+ advocacy group labeled the platform, then known as Twitter, as the most perilous platform for LGBTQ+ safety.
In 2023, the platform briefly lifted regulations that banned the misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals, only to reinstate them less than a year later.
Tesla, the electric vehicle company where Musk serves as CEO, relocated from Palo Alto, California to Austin in 2021 due to California’s exorbitant housing costs impeding the company’s growth.
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