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The Current Controversy in Olympic Boxing: Imane Khelif and Misinformation
The world of Olympic boxing has recently been rocked by a wave of controversy and misinformation. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who has faced Italian boxer Angela Carini, is at the center of this storm. During their bout Carini dramatically fell to her knees and cried out "This is unjust," before forfeiting the fight. This incident sparked rumors that Khelif is male assigned at birth, fueled by previous denials of her access to compete due to high levels of testosterone.
The reality however is far more complex. Imane Khelif is a woman assigned at birth and possesses naturally high levels of testosterone, a biological anomaly. Algeria is her home country and has stringent laws making hormone therapy and gender affirmation surgery illegal. Carini has since recanted her statement and apologized to Khelif, but the uproar persists. Celebrities, professional fighters, and fans alike have taken to social media to debate the perceived unfairness of the Olympic Games, driven by rampant misinformation.
In an effort to address this controversy and its broader implications. We interviewed Sonny Oram the founder of Qwear, a fashion platform dedicated to allowing queer individuals to express themselves.
Q: Given your vision with QWEAR, you know how important it is for people to be able to express themselves with fashion. Sports is also a way for people to express themselves. How urgent do you think it is that people are educated on the intricacies of gender identity, being cis, being trans, or intersex, to lay the foundation for a more encompassing society that allows individuals the freedom of self-expression across all topics, not just sports?
A: "I don’t think of it as education so much as de-programming. The western binary was invented by white men to control women and people of color. Even phrasing it as cis, trans, or intersex, is catering to a binary. (And don’t forget intersex people can be trans too.) Our society needs to completely disentangle from this gender binary. Once we do that, the lines between cis and trans will be blurred as we celebrate a vast array of gender identities. The term 'trans' is also a western term that is a reaction to the gender binary. In other cultures, there are other ways of describing gender variance. Some indigenous cultures call themselves two-spirit. This deprogramming is extremely urgent, as people who don’t fit the gender binary are being targeted, denied healthcare, operated on without consent, barred from public spaces, and murdered at high rates."
Q: The sports world's response to Imane Khelif is a prime example of people not being educated on these intricacies. Imane represents a country where it's illegal to be trans in the first place. To suggest she is trans is completely unfounded and full of misinformation. If people were more educated, what kind of a difference do you think this could have on the world of sports? Do you think the lines between gender-segregated sports might be differentiated more by hormones instead of gender, much like weight classes?
A: "I’m not educated on the best and fairest way to determine teams. However, as long as teams are determined based on gender, every member of that gender must be allowed to play. This includes trans people, cis people with elevated testosterone, and women who are 6 foot two. Everyone has advantages and everyone has disadvantages, and to target the trans community and people who don’t fit neatly into the binary is simply transphobic. I don’t think that hormones are a good way to determine teams. It’s too invasive to ask everyone to be tested on hormone levels. It outs trans and intersex people, and if someone’s hormone levels fluctuate, they could be forced to switch teams in the middle of a season. Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer as to how to best determine teams. It might be different for every sport. In some sports, weight is really important. In other sports, height is really important. Also, if everyone plays together, cis men have an advantage not just with strength but socialization because boys are raised to be athletic and develop muscle tone much earlier. So I do think there needs to be a way to determine teams fairly, but I’m not an athlete so I can’t really say."
Sonny's perspective highlights the urgent need to rethink our conventional approaches to gender and sports. They don’t claim to have all the answers, nor do they prescribe specific regulations for sports. Instead, they call for a fundamental shift in our thinking to prevent the spread of misinformation and harm.
The controversy surrounding Imane Khelif underscores the complexities of gender identity in sports and the necessity for broader societal understanding and acceptance. As the world grapples with these issues it is crucial to develop an environment of education and empathy.
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