SpaceX founder and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has once again become embroiled in a transgender rights-related row over his reaction to an article that slammed his stance on netizens using pronouns in their bios.
Some Twitter users prefer to add “he/him” or “she/her” in their Twitter bios in order to underscore their preferred gender pronouns, something that is often done either by transgender people themselves or others in a show of solidarity.
“I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare”, Musk tweeted on Wednesday, in response to a think piece by efficient vehicle enthusiast and writer Jennifer Sensiba published on the website CleanTechnica earlier that day.
In the article, Sensiba berated Musk for previously tweeting a meme showing a colonial-era UK soldier rubbing his blood-covered hands on his face, captioned: “When you put he/him in ur bio”. The soldier was shown with the words “I love to oppress” written on his hat.
“The problem is that most people who put pronouns in their Twitter bios aren’t trying to oppress anyone. They’re trying to signal to transgender people that they matter”, Sensiba pointed out.
The billionaire entrepreneur’s “esthetic nightmare” remarks were, meanwhile, immediately сriticised by many Twitter users, with some pointing to the fact that Musk “gave his daughter a name that nobody will be able to pronounce”.
Earlier this year, Musk confirmed that he had named his baby X Æ A-12, prompting netizens to scratch their heads.