Elon Musk continues his aggressive anti-trans social media campaign, urging his 227 million followers on X to cancel their Netflix subscriptions, claiming the streaming service was promoting a “transgender woke agenda” through children’s content.
His ire appears primarily directed at *Dead End: Paranormal Park*, a now-cancelled (January 2023) Netflix animated series whose lead character is transgender.
Musk reposted memes framing Netflix’s programming as a Trojan Horse to indoctrinate children, labelled trans representation as “paid speech,” and chastised the platform for “sexualised content” in youth-aimed titles.
He also says he cancelled his own subscription and publicly called for others to follow suit.
The show’s creator, Hamish Steele, has reported receiving a flood of homophobic and antisemitic harassment following Musk’s amplification of the controversy. On X, supporters of the boycott have made outlandish and dire warnings about moral corruption, with some adopting conspiracy language about the “grooming” of children, for which there is no proof. In fact, statistics show most “grooming” of children is perpetrated by straight white males.
This hate and anti-trans campaign fits within a broader pattern: Musk’s platform X has repeatedly been criticised for loosening protections against transphobic speech. In 2023, X removed language that explicitly barred misgendering or deadnaming trans users.
LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have publicly condemned Musk’s use of his massive reach to circulate misinformation and stoke anti-trans sentiment
While Republicans and rightwing U.S. political actors routinely weaponise cultural fear to rally their base, few have so directly targeted transgender visibility through a “cancel culture” call as Musk has. His rhetoric exploits longstanding tropes — that trans inclusion is a threat to children, or that it is part of a hidden ideological agenda — tropes that have historically served to justify exclusion and violence.
For transgender people watching this unfold, the stakes are personal. This is not just a debate about streaming services; it is a pretext for demonising an entire community and escalating harassment under the cover of “protecting kids.” Musk’s campaign speaks not only to a culture of fear, corporate power and social media influence but also to the resilience needed by trans communities in the face of renewed public culture wars.
