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Okay, time out. Listen up.
Contrary to the vile disinformation being spread online, there are no trans women competing in boxing at the Olympics.
In fact, there are no trans women competing at all in the Olympics. None. Zilch.
The maelstrom of hatred you’re seeing from many bigots on social media over the past two days pertains to the participation of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif in the women’s competition. Ms. Khelif is NOT a trans woman.
She faced off against Italy’s Angela Carini in the second round of the 66kg weight class, defeating her after Ms. Carini’s corner threw in the towel 46 seconds into their bout.
What followed was outrage from anti-trans corners all over the internet and a lot of confused people who understandably couldn’t make heads or tails of all this without proper context.
The propaganda was mostly pushed by American rightwing clowns, including vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance and YouTube influencer Logan Paul, with assists from international public figures like J.K. Rowling and Chris Evert.
But again: Ms. Khelif is not a trans woman.
The International Olympic Committee released a strong statement rejecting the fearmongering and questioning of Ms. Khelif’s sex, contextualizing how the propaganda was enabled, and confirming that she complies with the strict standards of qualification for the competition, which does not permit trans women.
Perhaps the most glaring thing about the misogynistic and transphobic nonsense surrounding Imane Khelif is that Algeria is notoriously anti-LGBTQ in law, and she would never get a passport approved if she were trans.
There is no trans equality in Algerian law. At all.
Are there LGBTQ people in Algeria? Yeah, of course, and there are a lot of non-LGBTQ Algerians who stand on the side of equality, but the Algerian government does not.
So, it would appear that Ms. Khelif is, I guess, guilty of not looking the “right way” as a woman in the eyes of so many dorkass losers who can’t stand imagining women as anything other than what they envision in their high femme fever dreams.
But are there trans athletes competing in Paris? Yes, and in fact, I’m quite proud to highlight them.
There are two non-binary athletes competing who were assigned female at birth: track and field star Nikki Hiltz (U.S.) and soccer star Quinn (Canada).
There is one trans man competing (that means he was assigned female at birth): Hergie Bacyadan (Philippines), who became the first trans man to ever compete at the Olympics. He was soundly defeated by unanimous decision in the first round of women’s boxing by China’s Li Quan.
I take pride in all of these athletes who are breaking barriers, and it’s completely disgusting to watch insecure and hateful men on this site spread lies and half-truths about trans athletes.
My congratulations to Ms. Quan and Ms. Khelif on their resounding victories, to Mr. Bacyadan for his historic accomplishment in qualifying for the Games, to Hiltz and Quinn for their representation on the highest stage, and to every athlete living up to the highest standards of competition and character.
We’re not gonna let bigots ruin these Games for us. They don’t get to have that power.
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