Elon Musk thinks it’s okay to post a picture of someone in the bathroom without that person’s consent–as long as the person is transgender.

The Global Government Affairs department at X has posted that the company is offering legal support in the case of a far-right Republican activist in Texas who posted just such a photo on X in 2023. Michelle Evans, who is now head of the Williamson County Republican Party, is being investigation and facing criminal charges for posting the photo. She in turn has sued the Travis County district attorney for violating her free speech rights.

Musk’s interest in Evans’ case apparently stems from the intersection of protecting X’s right-wing bent and his own transphobia. Musk has a transgender daughter whom he says is “dead” because she transitioned.

The X post decries the Fifth Circuit’s “misguided and dangerous opinion” and promises to help Evans pursue an appeal to all 17 judges on the Circuit bench. “We look forward to the full Fifth Circuit correcting this wrong and preserving free speech, which is the foundation of American democracy,” the post said.

The incident triggering Evans’ legal problems began after she posted the photo. Evans was attending a session of the Texas state legislature while it debated a bill banning health care for trans youth. When she went to the restroom, she saw a transgender activist, whom she confronted. After she returned to her seat, she saw that someone else had taken a photo of the woman washing her hands. Evans reposted the photo on X, complaining about the woman using the bathroom.

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Evans’ post attracted enough attention that the Department of Public Safety questioned her and took her phone. Travis County District Attorney José Garza began investigating Evans for violating a state law that makes it a felony to transmit “a visual image of another in a bathroom or changing room” or promoting such a transmission if the action is done without consent and “with intent to invade the privacy of the other person.”

Evans quickly filed her own lawsuit against Garza, claiming the investigation violated her right to free speech, which her suit says allows her to “speak about matters of public concern, including the presence of a transgender activist, male politician in the ladies’ room at the Texas Capitol.” She wanted a permanent injunction prohibiting Garza from investigating her.

That argument flopped with the U.S. District Court of Appeals. Earlier this month, in a 2-1 decision, the court ruled that the investigation can go forward.

A little more than a week after the Court’s decision, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the launch of a tip line that allows people to report on suspected trans people they believe are violating the state’s new bathroom ban.

In a statement announcing the tip line, Paxton said the Texas Women’s Privacy Act – which requires people in public buildings to use bathrooms based on sex assigned at birth – “was passed to ensure that women and girls in Texas are protected from mentally ill men wanting to violate their basic right to privacy.”

Evans and Paxton have been working together to enforce their ultra-conservative agenda. Evans has been pushing the school district where her son goes to school to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Paxton recently sued that district and another one for not doing so. The tip line seems like a direct response to Evans’ loss in court.

Evans may have an uphill fight to justify her post. Sanford Levinson, a law professor at the University of Texas, told the CBS affiliate in Austin that the law is pretty clear.

“She’s arguing that the DA doesn’t have a choice, that it would be unconstitutional for him to prosecute her. And, you know, I don’t see it. She clearly violated the law,” said Levinson, “the fact that somebody else took the picture seems to be irrelevant the way it’s written. Because it seems to say that if you have a picture of somebody in a bathroom, whether you took it or somebody else took it you’re not supposed to make it public.”

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