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Anti-trans rhetoric is being spread by high-profile figures including JK Rowling and Liz Truss after a dispute erupted at the Olympic Games when a boxer abandoned her fight against her opponent after 46 seconds.
Angela Carini, of Italy, later said “It’s not right” after suffering what she described as the hardest punch of her life against Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who is biologically female and was born and raised as a woman.
But Carini’s reaction has led to a social media pile-on, with prominent figures accusing her opponent of being a trans woman, because she has previously failed a gender test due to a medical condition. The issue is similar to the controversy South African athlete Caster Semenya faced throughout her career.
The most well-read comments include anti-trans rhetoric from JK Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk. However, other vocal figures who scrutinised the incident rowed back when it was clarified that Khelif was not a trans woman.
Khelif, who fought and lost in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo 2021 Games, and has an amateur record of 37 wins and 9 losses, was banned from the 2023 World Championships after she failed to meet the International Boxing Association’s eligibility criteria, which prevents athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women’s events.
Rowling, who is known for her outspoken gender-critical stance, shared a picture of the aftermath of the fight, writing: “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?
“The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”
Elon Musk, meanwhile, retweeted a picture of Carini on Twitter/X that American swimmer Riley Gaines captioned: “Men don’t belong in women’s sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini.”
The Tesla founder simply wrote “Absolutely” in response.
Former British prime minister Liz Truss also waded into the debate over why Khelif had been allowed to compete and similarly accused her of being a transgender woman.
“When will this madness stop?” she said. “Men cannot become women. Why is the British Government not objecting to this?”
Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024
Pushing back, former Team GB boxer Tony Jeffries, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games and continues to coach around the world, slammed the misinformation campaign against Khelif.
“Fake news! It seems like the female in the red was actually born a female! (I need to post this as my feed is FULL of information saying other wise). And now she has full time security around her in the Olympic village because of all the fake news,” he told his followers on X/Twitter.
He added [sic]: “If Michelle Phelps was born with webbed feet, should he not be able to compete? Shaq is bigger than everyone, should he not compete because he was born with that advantage.
“She’s been beat 6-9 times from women since she’s been boxing.
“What is scary about this, is how much the news spreads… then you have tons of influences not fact checking but jumping on it. I hope the correct news can spread as fast as the fake… mental torture for her...”
Elsewhere, American civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo said that the scandal could put Khelif’s life in danger and stressed that she is not a transgender woman.
“Being gay or transgender is illegal in Algeria. Making baseless accusations against Imane Khelif that she is trans because she is a cis woman with elevated testosterone levels puts her life in immediate danger. These people do not actually care about women.”
Musician Billy Bragg took aim at those on the far right, adding: “Imane Khelif is a female boxer who has been defeated [nine] times by women opponents.
“Those claiming she’s a man have the same aims as those who claimed that the suspect in the Southport stabbings was a Muslim asylum seeker: to stir up hatred against a marginalised community.”
Meanwhile, the Labour MP Nadia Whittome retweeted a post that read: “Serena Williams was accused of being a man when outperforming a white female. Caster Semenya was accused of being a man when outperforming a white female. Imane Khalifa was accused of being a man when outperforming a white female. Take what you want from this.”
Absolutely https://t.co/twccUEOW9e
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2024
Another said: “If Imane Khelif was such an unstoppable monster benefiting from an unfair advantage, she probably wouldn’t have lost 20% of her international level fights...and would probably stop more than 8.89% of her opponents.”
The absence of transgender women at this year’s games is a result of new guidelines from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which state they can only complete if they began their medical transition before the age of 12 to avoid any advantages in strength and size that may have come from male puberty.
Imane Khelif is from Algeria, which, as various commentators have noted, is a country where it is illegal to transition.
When will this madness stop? Men cannot become women. Why is the British Government not objecting to this? https://t.co/M1q8TkKzeS
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) August 1, 2024
The IOC yesterday defended its decision to allow both Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who was also ruled ineligible at last year’s World Championships, to participate in the women’s category.
“What I would say is that this involves real people and we are talking about real people’s lives here,” spokesperson Mark Adams said on Thursday.
“They have competed and they continue to compete in the women’s competition. They have lost and they have won against other women over the years.”
He added: “I would just say that everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. “They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case.”
Khelif will fight Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori in her next bout on Saturday.
