The internet is, and probably always will be, a bastion of anger before fact checking, and the latest controversy regarding Olympic boxing is no exception to this. This begun when Imane Khelif was fighting Angela Karini, and the fight was stopped after less than a minute, with Angela Karini bursting into tears.
And then, an army of people without any concept of checking the facts before saying anything descended on the situation. And that’s being generous, Elon Musk weighed in on it, you know, the man who recently stated that his trans daughter was dead to him.
So yeah, I’m sure he genuinely got his facts wrong and wasn’t try to stir up transphobic hate. Incidentally I could write about how he has also said horrible stuff about autistic people (being autistic himself doesn’t prevent this) but this blogpost is long enough already so it may have to wait for another time!
So, you guessed what’s coming next. How is Imane Khelif so physically strong that a fight had to be called off in less than a minute? Well, according to the Elon Musk school of fact checking, it must be because she’s trans, that’s it!
And I’m seeing this claim all over you tube and social media, and all over the old fashioned dead tree media. Imane Khelif is a trans woman with an unfair advantage over cis women, and she was allowed to compete and it was so unfair!
But how did Imane Khelif manage to win so easily then?
Well, I’m not an expert on boxing, but, I imagine that’s just how it goes sometimes. With one competitor quite easily defeating the other. Do we have to expect some sort of foul play is involved whenever one opponent easily defeats another? If it had taken Imane Khelif considerably longer to defeat Angela Karini would there have been less scrutiny? What if it was a draw? I’ve got an idea, let’s say that the only way Imane Khelif can be left alone is if she loses every single match she competes in! Yes that seems fair!
Now, there is a part of me that wanted to stay out of this, because when it comes down to it, I am not a sport expert. My interest in this case is the fact that it’s being used by transphobes to push their really nasty agenda (even though Imane Khelif is not trans). And I’ve been aware of the fact for quite some time that the Olympics as an organization has about as much morality as the Third Reich.
Oh wait, is that a bit hyperbolic? Perhaps, but all I’m saying is they allowed the Third Reich to host the Olympics in the thirties!:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nazi-olympics-berlin-1936
The reason this idea that Imane Khelif is trans started is because she was banned from last year’s International Boxing Association (IBA) world championships, because of an unspecified gender illegibility test.
However, the IBA was banned from participating in the Olympics because of years of corruption. So, the gender eligibility test, and, it must be stressed nobody knew what this even was or what it entailed, is from an organization that the International Olympic Committee doesn’t even recognize.
https://www.out.com/gay-athletes/imane-khelif-olympics-2024-transpobia
So, all we know is that, according to an unspecified test from a discredited organization, Imane Khelif may have an unfair advantage. That’s really flimsy evidence that she’s trans, or even intersex.
Now, I suppose I should address the question of, do I think trans athletes, or intersex athletes, have an unfair advantage? Well, as previously mentioned, I have no expertise when it comes to sport. So, I would rather do what I wish other people do, and leave this question to actual experts on the sports in question. It could be the case that some trans or intersex women do have an unfair advantage, and others don’t. Perhaps case by case basis is the way it could end up working in practice.
But where this gets more complicated, is that, really high level sports people DO have “unfair” advantages. That’s why mere mortals find them compelling to watch! If I was to go back in time to when I was three (as in rewind the clock, not physically occupy the world of 1988 as a 38 year old man, you know what I mean!) and from the age of three I spent hours and hours and hours building up my ability at swimming, I would never, ever, get even close to as good at swimming as Micheal Phelps is:
https://www.biography.com/athletes/michael-phelp-perfect-body-swimming
Micheal Phelps has an “unfair” advantage over 99.9% of people on Earth. If we can discuss kicking out Imane Khelif for a supposed unfair advantage, why not Micheal Phelps?
So, where are we so far? There is no evidence that Khelif has an unfair advantage, because the test was issued by an organization that is not taken seriously. And any advantages that she may have, well, top level athletes have advantages anyway, that’s how they’re able to compete in the Olympics.
And, whatever advantages Khelif may or may not have, she’s been defeated before by women who are both cis and to the best of my knowledge not intersex.
Irish boxer Kelly Harrington defeated her in 2020.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/av/olympics/58068888
It’s almost like Imane Khelif has no special advantage, at least none that gives her any advantage over other people who have an advantage, by virtue of them being in the Olympics. (That was the most confusing sentence I ever wrote on this blog.)
But, what bothers me about this, is not just the fact that Khelif, after countless hours of her life spent training to be the best athlete she can be, was in danger of having it cruelly taken away by transphobes, though that bothers me a lot.
What bothers me also is that this disaster is distracting from actual real injustices committed by the International Olympic Committee.
Like, for example, the fact that they are allowing a convicted rapist to compete.
Even if I grant that Imane Khelif has some hugely unfair advantage (I don’t grant that), the fact that a convicted rapist is allowed to compete would be still a far worse thing. If Khelif were intersex, which, as stated, there is no evidence for, all she would be guilty of would be being born different from other people. So yes, and this might be a bit controversial, but bear with me, I think we should hold to the moral standard that rape is a worse crime than being born different. I know, radical thinking, but that’s just how I feel!
And remember how I talked about how the Olympics allowed the Nazis to host the Olympics? Well, yeah, the Olympics is still all about letting countries that commit genocide compete. So, guess what country is allowed to compete this year. That’s right, Israel!
Here’s three posts I wrote on the subject of Israel’s genocide in Gaza:
And it boils my blood, in ways that I can barely describe, that the fact that the participation of a woman who is, depending on what misinformed nitwit you ask, either trans or intersex, is considered a greater injustice than the fact that a country that is trying to wipe an entire people from existence is allowed to compete. If Khelif really had a significant advantage, hell, if she was literally the strongest person on Earth, I would still say that allowing her to compete would be nowhere near as bad as allowing Israel to compete.
So, it’s not enough that so many out there have to ignore the fact that Israel is committing mass murder, but they have to get worked up about a completely made up controversy.
So, to finish, I’d just like to make an appeal to anyone who’s been swept up in the witchhunt against Imane Khelif, please, just leave her alone. She’s been caught in the crossfire of the horrific transphobia (even though, and say it with me now, she’s not trans!) that is sadly so prevalent in our society.
We need to stop having all of this bigotry and intolerance for trans and intersex people, and in the case of Imane Khelif, people who are wrongly identified as such. They’re just trying to live their lives, achieve their hopes and dreams, same as you and me.
Oh, and one last thing, boycott the Olympics. But not because of Imane Khelif, leave her alone. Boycott the Olympics because they’ve allowed a rapist, and a country that is murdering innocent men women and children, to compete this year.
Should I try to end this with diplomatic language? Ah, to hell with it.
Fuck the Olympics!
Ponderings Of An Autist 
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