Elon Musk Mocked for Calling Cisgender a 'Heterosexual Slur'

Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, ignited on Monday a flurry of criticism with his misinterpretation of gender-related terminology in a post in which he wrongfully associated the term cisgender with a “heterosexual slur.” Musk stated, “The word “cis” is a heterosexual slur. Shame on anyone who uses it.”

According to Merriam-Webster, cisgender refers to an individual “whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person was identified as having at birth,” discrediting Musk’s claim of its relation to heterosexuality. The term cisgender originates from the Latin prefix 'cis,’ meaning ‘on this side of,’ contrasting with ‘trans,’ which stands for ‘across from’ or ‘on the other side of.’

Reacting to Musk’s assertion, far-right extremist creator of the Libs of TikTok anti-LGBTQ+ hate account, Chaya Raichik, reposted it with the comment “FACTS.”

Harvard Law instructor Alejandra Caraballo rebutted both Musk and Raichik in a post on X, mocking them with, “She’s too stupid to realize that cis doesn’t refer to sexuality. FACTS.”

In a further reply, LGBTQ+ program director at Media Matters Ari Drennen highlighted the ignorance of far-right extremists, stating, “They should just shut up and transition if being called cis makes them so uncomfortable.”

Musk and Raichik have a notable online alliance, with Musk often legitimizing Raichik by responding directly to her posts. This alliance was evident earlier in October when Raichik’s account faced a brief demonetization on X. Raichik expressed her frustration, stating, “BREAKING: I can now confirm that an entire account can be demonetized… Libs of TikTok is not monetized at all right now. No idea why.” Musk quickly intervened, replying, “Will find out,” followed by Raichik thanking him minutes later as her account was remonetized, posting, “Was just remonetized. Thank you!”

Raichik was listed on the Anti-Defamation League website’s “Glossary of Extremism” until Friday when the organization decided to review its list and temporarily removed her after Raichik threatened the ADL with legal action.

Users were swift to rebuke Musk’s post. One user emphasized that the term has “absolutely nothing to do with sexuality,” questioning Musk’s understanding of the term. Another user, identifying as a cis woman and parent of a transgender child, dismissed Musk’s claim as nonsense.

In response to a complaint about the term in June, even without being tagged, Musk warned on X, “Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions,” adding that on this platform, “The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered slurs.”

X’s recent policy alterations have made the platform less safe for transgender individuals, reversing a prior policy against misgendering or deadnaming transgender people. Amid escalating hostility toward transgender individuals on X, Musk tweeted that misgendering individuals is “definitely allowed” on the platform.

Even those who proclaimed themselves Musk supporters criticized the billionaire for his mischaracterization.

“I was interested in this post and looked up the term. It does not read as a slur by definition. I can’t believe I am disagreeing with @elonmusk. However, if someone told me it offended them I would refrain from using it regardless,” one person wrote.

A GLAAD spokesperson condemned Musk’s ongoing harmful behavior in a statement to The Advocate.

“Musk has a long, prolific and ongoing history of this kind of behavior — much of which would be considered violative of hateful conduct policies were it posted on other social media platforms,” the spokesperson wrote. “Note that X/Twitter plummeted to a record-low score of 33% in GLAAD’s 2023 Social Media Safety Index report in July, in large part due to Musk’s aggressive gutting of the platform’s policy protections with regard to LGBTQ, and especially transgender, people,” they added.

The Advocate was unable to reach a spokesperson for X.