When you’re a professional fighter, it’s pretty inevitable that you’re going to get hit in the face. And it’s probably going to hurt. I mean, it’s a part of the sport. Anyone who has boxed, or even anyone with a love for boxing, will tell you this.
On Aug. 1, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif stepped into the ring for the women’s 16 welterweight bout with Italian boxer Angela Carini at the 2024 Summer Olympics. After 46 seconds and a blow to the face, Carini abandoned the bout and Khelif was declared the winner. Carini refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the match.
After the fight, Carini went on to say that she had “never taken a punch like that,” citing that the pain of the blow made it “impossible to continue.”
Carini’s decision to bow out of the fight was a controversial one, especially because it’s not a common occurrence at the Olympic level. Khelif’s eligibility also came into question after the fight, and not just because, IMHO, she’s simply a better boxer than Carini — but because thousands of people took to their computers to say that Khelif, who is a biological female, was born a man.
Let’s get a few things clear right off of the bat: One, Imane Khelif is, in fact, a biological woman. Contrary to what your weird uncle is reposting on Facebook, Khelif has competed her entire life as a woman, and even participated in the 2020 Olympics where she was eliminated by Irish participant Kellie Harrington in the quarterfinals.
The controversy surrounding the fight isn’t in the name of “saving women’s sports.” It’s just flat-out transphobic.
Two, both Imane Khelif and Carini are not mega-forces when it comes to Olympic-level boxing. Sure, they both could kick my ass in a matter of seconds, but against other female boxers like Cindy Ngamba, the two aren’t dominant figures in Olympic boxing. Contrary to what some might think, when trans women do compete in athletics, they’re not always blowing records out of the water.
And three, the controversy surrounding the fight isn’t in the name of “saving women’s sports.” It’s just flat-out transphobic. And not only does this hateful rhetoric target trans women, but it is damaging to all women.
I’ve said it twice before, and I’ll say it again: Imane Khelif is a woman. She was born on May 2, 1999, in Algeria — a country that is notorious for its anti-trans and anti-LGBTQIA+ government. (It’s actually illegal to be trans there. The more you know!) She began boxing as a child and competed at the national level before going to the Olympics in 2020 without incident. Then, in 2023, Khelif was disqualified because she failed to meet the International Boxing Association (IBA)’s eligibility criteria due to her higher levels of testosterone.
The controversy around Imane Khelif perpetuates the stereotype that if women don’t fit into a certain mold of femininity, they are inherently less than. And to bigots, there is nothing more “less than” than a trans woman.
Now, there are a few reasons as to why a woman can produce more testosterone. Sometimes, it’s simply genetic. In some cases, PCOS can cause women to produce more testosterone. Other times, it can come down to disorders of sex development (DSD), an umbrella term encompassing over 40 different conditions that develop in the womb. Also known as intersex conditions, DSDs can result in individuals with female appearances having male chromosomes or anatomy. DSDs are widely variable, and having one doesn’t make someone trans. Khelif hasn’t publicly shared any information about why she has elevated testosterone levels, and to be abundantly clear, she doesn’t need to.
The controversy around Imane Khelif perpetuates the stereotype that if women don’t fit into a certain mold of femininity, they are inherently less than. And to bigots, there is nothing more “less than” than a trans woman.
Trans women have been the target of hateful rhetoric, and even physical violence, for years. According to a 2021 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, there were 86.1 attacks for every 1,000 transgender women versus 23.7 attacks for every 1,000 cisgender women. In 2023, an unprecedented 37 bills were introduced at the federal level that sought to limit trans women’s access to health care, student athletics, and the military, along with changes to incarceration and education regulations.
As an advocate for all trans people, I couldn’t be happier to see these men participate in the divisions they feel comfortable in — I just don’t know why we can’t afford the same treatment to women.
Over the past few years, the discourse around trans women competing in athletics has been heated. However, there have been fewer questions raised about how transgender men should participate. In fact, trans men compete in men’s division athletics all of the time! And, on the other side of the coin, trans men have also competed in women’s divisions. Currently, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, trans man Hergie Bacyadan is participating in women’s boxing — yup, the same event as Khelif — and making history as the first to do so. (Philippines, represent!) As an advocate for all trans people, I couldn’t be happier to see these men participate in the divisions they feel comfortable in — I just don’t know why we can’t afford the same treatment to women.
The discourse around Imane Khelif isn’t hard to understand. If anything, it’s quite simple: It’s an indirect jab at trans women, and just another tactic to further an anti-trans women agenda. And even though women, especially athletes, have the ability to produce more testosterone simply based on their genetic makeup, society will continue to berate and degrade them.
At the end of the day, when you sign up to box, you’re going to get hit in the face. And in the case of Imane Khelif, the punch didn’t hurt because of her testosterone levels. It hurt because, newsflash, getting punched in the face hurts. Womp womp.