Vivian Jenna Wilson, the 20-year-old transgender daughter of tech mogul Elon Musk, responded to comments Musk made on Monday about her and her transgender identity.

On social media and in an interview posted online, Musk declared Wilson was “not a girl” and figuratively “dead,” and further alleged that he had been “tricked” into authorizing trans-related medical treatment for her when she was 16.

Wilson declared that Musk’s recent comments had crossed a line and assured that Musk hadn’t been tricked. Though he initially hesitated, Musk knew what he was doing when he agreed to her treatment, which required consent from her parents.

“I think he was under the assumption that I wasn’t going to say anything and I would just let this go unchallenged,” Wilson said. “Which I’m not going to do, because if you’re going to lie about me, like, blatantly to an audience of millions, I’m not just gonna let that slide.”

“He was not by any means tricked. He knew the full side effects,” she said.

She said she took puberty blockers before she switched to hormone-replacement therapy — treatments that she said were lifesaving for her and other transgender people.

“They save lives. Let’s not get that twisted,” she said. “They definitely allowed me to thrive.”

Wilson, who is currently a college student studying languages, in turn, revealed details of her tumultuous relationship with her father, marked by his absence, cruelty and rejection of her gender identity. She described him as “very quick to anger. He is uncaring and narcissistic.”

Wilson said that he was rarely present in her life, and left her and her siblings to be cared for by their mother or nannies, despite having joint custody. Wilson disclosed that throughout childhood Musk had frequently bullied her feminine traits and pressured her to appear more masculine as early as elementary school.

Musk has 12 children, including Wilson. Wilson and her twin brother were born to Musk’s first wife, author Justine Musk. The couple divorced in 2008 and Wilson said her parents shared custody between their homes in the Los Angeles area.

Wilson says that she has not spoken to Musk in about four years. She is determined not to be defined by Musk, who she says has taken a hard-right turn into conservative politics and has been “waging a campaign against transgender people and policies designed to support them.”

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Article by Baila Eve Zisman

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