Elon Musk has had 14 children by four women in the last 20 years. The eldest, trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, 20, was born to Canadian author Justine Wilson, one of a set of twins (she also had triplets); many of the children were borne via IVF or surrogate. Vivian made a statement through her social media that “The gender I was assigned at birth was a commodity that could be purchased and paid for. Therefore, I was defying the advertised product when I was feminine as a child and later discovered that I was transgender.”
Regarding his eldest daughter, Musk has blamed Vivian’s transition on the “woke mind virus,” stating, “I have very good relationships with all the others [children]. Can’t win them all.”
Yesterday, Ella Yurman for Teen Vogue did a cover story on Vivian, her first major media interview, during which she candidly discussed politics, the estrangement from her father, and the impact of the Trump administration on trans healthcare:
“It’s horrifying what they’re doing, not only to the trans community, but also to migrants, to communities of color, to so many marginalized communities that are being systematically targeted by the new administration and having protections revoked. It’s cartoonishly evil.”
Vivian, with her unique platform to influence not only other trans youth but to use her voice to counterweight the harmful anti-trans narrative of the current political administraion, also spoke out on her thoughts about controversial political moments:
“The Nazi salute sh*t was insane. Honey, we’re going to call a fig a fig, and we’re going to call a Nazi salute what it was. That sh*t was definitely a Nazi salute.”
And when asked if she fears Elon because he’s the richest man in the world, she responded:
“He’s a pathetic man-child. Why would I feel scared of him? Ohhh, he has so much power. Nah, nah, nah. I don’t give a f**k. Why should I be scared of this man? Because he’s rich? Oh, no, I’m trembling. Ooh, shivering in my boots here. I don’t give a f**k how much money anyone has. I don’t. I really don’t. He owns Twitter. Okay. Congratulations. People thrive off of fear. I’m not giving anyone that space in my mind. The only thing that gets to live free in my mind are drag queens.”
As a 20-year-old watching as the government, with her father as a leader, take away gender affirming in dramatic policy initiatives, Wilson spoke out strongly:
“As a trans woman, I am terrified of losing access to guaranteed medical care. If I didn’t medically transition at the age I did, I don’t know what would’ve happened. I don’t feel like people realize that being trans is not a choice. I’m so sorry to break it to you. Transitioning as a minor was something that was medically necessary for me to do in order to be not suicidal, and it is really important that we protect access to trans care for trans youth.”
Her wisdom is inspirational as she offers advice to other trans youth who might be struggling with their own identities:
“Don’t let other people’s perceptions of you affect your own. Don’t be ashamed of being trans in a world that constantly tries to make us ashamed of who or what we are. My transness is not an asterisk to my personhood. I value the trans community so much. I value the queer community. I value trans history and queer history and queer culture and all of that to such a high degree, and I would never want to distance myself from any of that.”
—Follow Mary McCarthy on Bluesky and Instagram.
Note: As someone who lost a transgender sibling to a heroin overdose, I’m including this original text from the Teen Vogue story: A 2024 study from the Trevor Project found that young people in states that passed anti-trans youth legislation saw increases in rates of attempted suicide. And, according to recently released 2024 survey data from the nonprofit, 39% of trans and nonbinary youth in Wilson’s home state of California “seriously considered suicide” in the last year, with 14% attempting it. Conversely, multiple studies have found that transgender youth accessing gender-affirming care and hormone replacement therapy improves mental health and decreases rates of depression.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis, there is help available. You can call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, where a trained counselor can talk to you and connect you with further resources. In addition, you can find out more about what to do if you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts here.