'What American tax dollars ... ': Musk on closure of India's first transgender clinic after USAID freeze

'That’s what American tax dollars were funding,' Musk said on X on Friday in response to a post about the closure of the first of the Mitr clinics

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has responded after the first of three clinics in India for the transgender community closed last month following a stop-work order from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that funded them, disrupting services for nearly 5,000 people, two sources said on Friday as reported by news agency Reuters.

"Mitr clinic is an initiative of Project ACCELERATE which is supported by USAID and PEPFAR", a statement said on its website. "It is a one-stop center to provide the transgender community a range of services including general health, HIV counseling and screening, HIV/STI treatment, support to follow medication protocols, mental health support, gender affirmation services, as well as linkages to legal and social protection schemes," it further added.

"That’s what American tax dollars were funding," Elon Musk said on X on Friday in response to a post about the closure of the first of the Mitr clinics, launched in  Hyderabad in 2021. The other clinics are located in  Maharashtra's Kalyan and Pune according to Reuters

Thats what American tax dollars were funding https://t.co/E4IQSoj9NV
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2025

All provided services including guidance and medication on hormone therapy, counselling on mental health as well as on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and legal aid, in addition to general medical care, a website for the three clinics said.

Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted gender non-conforming people in a blitz of orders pushing his radical right-wing agenda at the start of his second term.

At his inauguration speech he announced that US government policy would only recognize two genders, male and female -- ending the practice of providing a third gender option in some settings. Days later Donald Trump signed an order to rid the military of what he called "transgender ideology" and effectively ban transgender troops.

He also issued an order to restrict gender transition procedures for people under age 19.The slew of actions comes despite the fact that transgender people make up only a small minority of the US population.

During the 2024 election campaign he repeatedly hammered Democrats on the divisive issue of transgender rights, capitalizing on a broader culture war over the topic.

*With Agency Inputs