The Khelif Controversy: Understanding Transphobia

During the Paris Olympics on Aug. 1, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif swiftly defeated Italian boxer Angela Carini in a 46-second match. Afterwards, Carini refused to shake Khelif’s hand and protested to her team that “it’s not fair.”

What should have been a moment of joy quickly turned into a defamatory campaign against Khelif. Instead of accepting Khelif’s win, swarms of people began to spread false claims online that she was secretly born a man.

These claims stemmed from Khelif’s disqualification from the International Boxing Association (IBA) for having failed an “unspecified gender test.” Press reporters suggested that it was due to high levels of testosterone.

The president of the IBA, Umar Kremlev, claimed on Russian television that Khelif had XY chromosomes, the combination found in males. This decision has been called into doubt because the IBA, who has ties with the Russian government, disqualified her after she won against Azlia Amineva, a previously unbeaten Russian boxer.

Without prior research, many jumped to protest this perceived “injustice” against Carini. This includes prominent figures such as former president Donad Trump who used this as an opportunity to boost his campaign by exclaiming “I will keep men out of women’s sports!” on Truth Social.

Despite repeated confirmations that Khelif was born a woman, the controversy persisted. This reflects a broader trend where female athletes, especially women of color, are subjected to baseless allegations regarding their gender. Serena Williams, for example, has faced numerous misogynistic and racist attacks due to her muscular physique.

This obsession with transgender athletes has led to a reinforcement of rigid gender norms that has harmed both trans and cisgender women. It has made it so that if a female athlete does not look or act in a way that fits these gender norms, they are often met with unfounded conspiracies.

This has become another culture war issue that politicians, especially the Republican party, have exploited for political gain. Despite what they may suggest, transgender athletes are not a dominating force in sports. It is only in the few instances in which they do win that politicians hyperfixate on them and claim that it is a part of nationwide trend.

This presence of transphobia in sports is indicative of an even larger problem. The increase in transphobic rhetoric in national politics has only further endangered an already vulnerable community. The UCLA Williams Institute reports that 42% of transgender adults have attempted suicide. This is not due to inherent mental health issues but because of the constant demonization they face on a daily basis.

On Aug. 9, Imane Khelif was able to overcome this controversy and went on to win Algeria’s first gold medal in boxing in the 66-kilogram weight class. In an interview after the match, she declared “I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman. I lived as a woman. I competed as a woman. There’s no doubt about that.”

Although the controversy has settled down, it shows that transphobia is a rampant issue that we cannot continue to ignore. Confirmation of Khelif’s biological sex does not excuse the derogatory comments she faced because of the false assumption that she was a trans woman.

Respecting trangender people should not depend on whether or not you understand every aspect of their experiences. There needs to be a sincere effort in fostering a society in which people are able to live their lives without a constant fear of discrimination. Until we recognize transphobia as an issue that impacts everybody, we will not be able to move on from these counterproductive culture wars.