Elon Musk’s transgender child from his first marriage has severed ties with her billionaire father and filed on Monday to officially change her name and gender. The hearing is set for Friday.
Formerly Xavier Alexander Musk, the teenager – who recently celebrated her 18th birthday in April – has filed for a new birth certificate in the name of Vivian Jenna Wilson, Wilson being her mother Justine Musk’s maiden name. She is one of five children from Musk’s first marriage, and her siblings include a twin brother named Griffin.
Wilson filed a petition for change of name and recognition of gender change in addition to requesting the new birth certificate. In the documents filed with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County, the newly-minted Wilson explained she was changing her name for reasons of “gender identity and the fact that I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape, or form.”
While Wilson did not provide any further details as to why she was distancing herself from her father, Musk has repeatedly mocked the thicket of pronouns that have grown up around the transgender community, declaring that “pronouns suck” and later clarifying that while he “absolutely support[s] trans … all these pronouns are an esthetic [sic] nightmare.”
His most recent girlfriend, artist and musician Grimes, has publicly quarreled with him over his disdain for transgender pronouns. The pair have two children together. Musk divorced his first wife, a novelist, in 2008 after eight years of marriage.
Justine Musk tweeted her support for her daughter’s decision on Monday, declaring she was “proud” of Vivian, who remarked on her “weird childhood” and marveled that she couldn’t “believe I’m as normal-seeming as I am.”