Algerian boxer Imane Khelif
JK Rowling let’s her true colors show again with transphobic attacks on Olympic boxer
Let me begin by saying that I hate boxing. I think it’s super gross to watch people punch each other in the face for entertainment.
But what I hate even more is transphobia. And the recent treatment of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif over her competing in the Olympics is truly the grossest.
In case you didn’t follow the story, here’s the in-a-nutshell version of what happened, as reported by The Advocate: “Italian boxer Angela Carini competed against Khelif in a boxing match at the 2024 Olympic Games; 46 seconds into the fight, however, Carini withdrew from the match and claimed that she was feeling an intense pain in her nose.”
She then told news outlets that competing with Khelif was “unfair.”
Why was it unfair? Well, it’s likely that Carini was referencing a decision made in March by the International Boxing Association to exclude Khelif and another boxer, Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), from competing because they failed a “gender test.”
“According to the results of DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to deceive their colleagues and posed as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY-chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from the competition,” IBA President Umar Kremlev told Russian news outlet Tass at the time. (Hat tip to Google translate!)
Transphobic author J.K. Rowling
I may have dropped out of two different biology classes in college, but I know that people with XX chromosomes are generally female, and those with XY chromosomes are generally male. I also know that this is not true for all people all of the time. It’s a very narrow reading of biological sex that excludes people who are intersex.
Furthermore, many people point to these two little letters in order to declare that “there are only two genders!” and completely ignore the existence of transgender people, not to mention the fact that someone’s chromosomes do not dictate someone’s gender.
So does Khelif have XY chromosomes? I don’t know (also, it’s none of my business).
But it’s clear she doesn’t identify as trans.
“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” said International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams, according to The Advocate.
See? Case closed! Now if we can all just move along ….
Oh, wait. J.K. Rowling, one of the world’s most notorious transphobes, has something to say?
On X, Rowling posted a photo of Khelif and Carini. In the photo Khelif looks like she’s patting a crying Carini on the back.
But that’s not what Rowling sees.
“Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?” Rowling posted. “The smirk of a male who’s [sic] 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.”
Of course, once Rowling learned that Khelif is not a man, she apologized ….. Ha! Just kidding.
X user @YourAnonNews posted, “Imane Khelif should sue every single account and outlet saying she is trans. Assholes are putting her life at risk, it is illegal in her country to be trans. The continuance of the blatant trans lie continues unfettered on Twitter.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Khelif has, in fact, filed a cyberbullying lawsuit in Paris naming both Rowling and Elon Musk.)
Rowling responded to this with, “The idea that those objecting to a male punching a female in the name of sport are objecting because they believe Khelif to be ‘trans’ is a joke. We object because we saw a male punching a female.”
Asshole, indeed.
“Suspicions of cis women as trans aren’t new, especially when it comes to women of color,” Marie-Adélina de la Ferrière writes in The Advocate.
I know — absolutely shocking that there’s a big overlap between transphobes and racists!
“For years, trans individuals have raised the alarm about the increasing impact of transphobia beyond trans bodies,” she continues. “This goes beyond transphobic tweets and posts. The bills aimed at restricting trans bodies from accessing bathrooms and medical treatment are all in the supposed name of protecting cis women.
“Yet, cis women are increasingly vulnerable to these policies and attacks. And if they can seek to control trans bodies, they certainly won’t stop there.”
She is absolutely right. As author and leading trans activist Raquel Willis posted on X, “The anti-trans ‘gender critical’ crusade has … always been about pushing white supremacist, bioessentialist purity standards. All women who don’t or can’t conform to those ideas are in danger.”
It’s not hard to see the line between this and anti-choice legislation that seeks to ban abortion with no exceptions and then virtually imprisons any pregnant person seeking one by making it illegal for them to even leave the state.
As I said, I do not support punching people in the face, but I do advise that you punch anti-trans and anti-choice candidates as hard as you can at the ballot box.
D’Anne Witkowski is a writer living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBTQ politics for nearly two decades. Follow her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.