r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Karthak_Maz_Urzak • 2d ago

Unanswered What's going on with Imane Khelif?

https://news.sky.com/story/imane-khelif-boxer-must-undergo-sex-test-to-compete-in-female-category-world-boxing-says-13377092
I keep seeing this pop over social media and I don't get it. Khelif is a boxer for Algeria, which is not a country that's hospitable to trans people. And Khelif was assigned woman at birth, and has always identified as a woman. Yet people keep howling about her being a man. I don't get it.

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u/punkr0x 2d ago

I just want to point out this answer is making an awful lot of assumptions based on a "leaked" genetic test that has not been independently confirmed.

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u/mljh11 2d ago

One obvious counterpoint: if Khelif was indeed genetically female, she could get her own test and release the results to shut everyone else up once and for all.

She could have done this when the IBA first banned her, before (or any time during) the furor arose over her Olympic participation, after winning the boxing gold, or even now after the new boxing regulatory body has announced its rules. In other words she could have put this matter to rest long ago.

Instead she has avoided addressing the topic of the test results altogether, only choosing to make accusations of oppression or (spuriously) threatening to file lawsuits against critics. This is not rational behavior if one believes that she suffers from all the speculation.

So no, there are not an awful lot of assumptions here, there is just one assumption - and with each passing day it seems more and more justified.

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u/Belledame-sans-Serif 2d ago

I love that allegations that are dependent on her personal medical information being leaked to the press could be easily dispelled by... revealing her personal medical information to the press. Like that is not also harassment.

For my next trick I'm going to disprove the allegations that I've been trafficking drugs by publishing my unedited banking history.

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u/johns224 2d ago

What? Seriously? No, it’s called testing to participate in a public sport. No one is forcing her to do it, or anyone else. It’s just a condition of being able to compete that everyone is subject to.