The 2024 Olympics are in full swing, and the international competition has hit some incredible high notes in a few short days. The events mark a lifetime of dreaming for professional athletes, and this year, women’s sports are taking center stage.
But for every great moment the events have produced, an equally revolting one quickly follows. From a convicted child rapist being allowed to complete, to a dressage star beating her horse, and now female athletes being accused of being transgender simply for performing well at their sport and looking a little more masculine. Now that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has coopted the win to push her TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) agenda, things are looking even worse.
In a startlingly short 46-second match, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif smashed Angela Carini of Italy. After a flurry of brutal blows, one of which allegedly broke Carini’s nose, the Italian called the match with a raise of her hand. She told her coach her nose hurt too much to continue, and though she was encouraged to make it to the end of the round, she felt it was in her best interest to call the fight.
According to Yahoo News, she told her coach, “She’s too strong,” before dropping out. Carini told reporters later, “I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much so I said enough, I go out with my head held high.”
What should have been a spectacular victory for Khelif, who comes from a poor family in the rural village of Tiaret, has instead been twisted into a nightmare. The Algerian, who has identified as a woman her whole life and always fought in women’s sports, was unable to pass a “sex verification test” back in 2023. At the time, the International Boxing Association (IBA) released a statement about its decision to disqualify athletes whose tests revealed they possessed XY chromosomes — chromosomes typically characteristic of a man — but didn’t mention Khelif by name. Only recently has the association addressed Khelif’s disqualification by name, but even still, the mention of chromosomes was absent. Khelif herself has never publically addressed the chromosomal accusation, nor has she identified as transgender or intersex, the latter of which refers to someone with both male and female sex characteristics.
The invasive sex verification test administered by the IBA, which involves a physical examination, “visual inspections,” and chromosomal as well as testosterone level testing, was first established in the 1940s. As anxieties surrounding “unfemininity” in female athletes grew, officials felt it was necessary to ensure no man could compete within the female leagues. The humiliating tests initially saw the ladies “Parade nude before a panel of doctors,” before becoming somehow even more invasive and requiring genetic testing. Unlike the IBA — which has been the subject of multiple controversies — the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not follow the same qualification process.
J.K. Rowling, for her part, has long been a TERF activist, intent to denigrate any trans women if it means “lifting” biological women up. As such, she took to X to whine about the perceived injustice, stirring up a storm of fury and leading thousands to bash the Algerian champion.
Throughout the multi-post long thread, Rowling “went to bat” for women everywhere.
“Watch this (whole thread), then explain why you’re OK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment. This isn’t sport. From the bullying cheat in red all the way up to the organisers who allowed this to happen, this is men revelling in their power over women.”
Her comment section is littered with people who mirror her feelings.
Posts saying, “Trans women are men” and parents whining about their child’s future in sports are everywhere. Throughout all of the fear-mongering outrage, there were plenty of folks who pointed out one obvious problem with Rowling’s narrative; Imane Khelif is a woman.
Again, Khelif has always identified as a woman, was raised as a woman, and has fought (and lost to) other women. Since she began her career in 2018, she’s won 9 of 14 professional matches. She’s been fighting for 6 years now, and while it’s a well-known fact that the girl hits hard, it wasn’t a problem until 2023.
Khelif was disqualified for having high levels of testosterone. Though she has never released her medical records (and shouldn’t have to) theorize arose that she suffers from a Disorder of Sex Development (DSD). It is characterized by the presentation of one gender while the chromosomes present the other. There are 10 sex chromosome variations, and each presents different traits for those affected.
Algeria has no protections in place for LGBTQIA+ people, and to accuse Khelif of being a man poses a threat to her very existence. Her home country would in no way endorse her as a trans athlete, and spreading this narrative is likely to put her in direct danger, but JK Rowling doesn’t believe she has ever endangered a life with her hateful rhetoric.
For someone who claims to want to support women, Rowling has an incredibly limited idea of what being a woman is. She aligns herself with some of the worst people to push her agenda. Even if Khalif measures up to 99% of Rowling’s “feminine expectations” the potential DSD diagnoses prevent her from ever being “a real woman,” in the TERF’s eyes. Because the intricacies of Khelif’s medical history have never been publically shared, Rowling’s preconceived accusations are based on speculation alone.
Rather than campaign for these invasive and sexiest tests to be abolished, Rowling is leaning into the ridiculous fear-mongering that established them in the first place. Where is her outrage over the idea that women have to take “gender eligibility” tests while their male counterparts have no requirement? Where men are concerned, greater strength or endurance is seen as a testament to their ability to train, or their superior genetics. In women, those same physical bolsters subject them to online ridicule and outlandish questions that female athletes are constantly harangued by.
Iman Khalif has always identified as a woman. She was raised as a woman. And if women were never subjected to a humiliating “gender eligibility” test, we would likely never know she is possibly XY. Either way, her biological differences make her a champion, one we should celebrate rather than tear down.
Published: Aug 1, 2024 04:06 pm