By Conor Tormey
*trigger warning* Transphobia, misogyny
Since the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics right-wing queerphobic attacks have permeated the event. This includes the opening ceremony including drag queens inspired by Greek mythology which were described by conservatives as “satanic” and “demonic”. The inclusion of drag queens, while positive in the context of the backlash on drag internationally, is also cynically used considering the exclusion of many trans athletes from the Olympics
These attacks on the queer community also included individual athletes as well.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian woman, has been attacked relentlessly by right-wing figures and TERF’s in an act of transphobia and intersexphobia. Imane complied with the Olympics eligibility and entry regulations alongside medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 boxing unit which used the Tokyo 2020 rules which Imane also competed in and was defeated by Ireland’s Kellie Harrington.
Despite these facts she has been ruthlessly attacked by right-wing TERF figures including a vile tweet from JK Rowling claiming she’s a biological man and saying “he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head”.
Trans and Intersex athletes are being increasingly discriminated against by sports institutions internationally and attacks by the far-right is one of the main focuses of the right-wing backlash on trans people in the US. This also extends to cis women – athletes who were assigned female athletes birth and identify as women. Policing femininity is often targeted at black and brown women athletes as is the case with Imane Khelif, demonstrating the inherently white and Eurocentric standards imposed on the idea of womanhood
Caster Seymena, a black intersex athlete, also faced similar public scrutiny when the results of her ‘sex verification test’ were leaked to the press, publicly outing her as intersex. After new World Athletics rules were brought in in 2019, she and other intersex women athletes were banned from competing under the women’s division. Seymena has worked tirelessly to challenge these discriminatory rules to allow intersex athletes to compete without being coerced into taking testosterone-suppressing medication.
The danger of this policing of gender and women’s bodies is that it doesn’t account for the variations that people have, the allegations that Imane has XY chromosomes are used as proof that shes not “biologically” a woman despite there being many different chromosome types
The targeting of intersex athletes includes regulating testosterone using a criteria of extremely strict levels. This regulation often targets women of colour, forcing people to artificially reduce their testosterone levels which can bring on negative physiological side effects. Rhese repressive and narrow rules are used as reasons to put trans and intersex athletes under the microscope and effectively deny access to sports. This is just another example of the regulation of women’s bodies and a way to put more barriers in place for those that already have the most to jump through, such as trans and black women.
These show exactly what trans people have been warning of for years: that the bioessentialism pushed by TERFs will come back on cis women who don’t fit into the rigid gender binary of what a woman is supposed to be or look like.
The trans and intersexphobia pushed by right-wing figures and TERFs towards imane also distracts from the real issues pervading womens sports. This being chronic underfunding and the exploitation of athletes.
Simone Biles, historic US Gymnast who won gold in this year’s olympics, testified about the abuse she and other olympic athletes received by USA Gymnastics. The ban on the hijab by the French government for its athletes shows a disgusting level of Islamophobia and gender discrimination of some of the most marginalised in society, these right-wing and TERF forces have been silent on this issue.
Olympic swimmer Erica Sullivan wrote in 2022 “As a woman in sports, I can tell you that I know what the real threats to women’s sports are: sexual abuse and harassment, unequal pay and resources and a lack of women in leadership. Transgender girls and women are nowhere on this list.
The organization of true equality and ability of women, trans and intersex athletes to fully participate in sport begins with solid funding and democratisation of sport at all levels. This means real investment in infrastructure, coaching and training, as well as the creation of (and support for) democratically-run sports clubs and federations, where athletes, coaching staff and supporters are jointly responsible for managing all aspects of their practice. This would also enable young people of all genders to explore their interests without financial or social barriers.
Only through nationalising private sporting institutions and placing elite international sporting federations such as FIFA, UCI, IOC which have misogyny and transphobia at its roots under democratic control can women and trans athletes be truly celebrated.
As long as there is still racism, sexism, LGBTQ+phobia etc, these will still exist in sport. Whether it be the sexualisation of female sports clothing or transphobic regulations limiting intersex and trans athletes’ ability to compete.
We need a mass movement against the far-right and the right-wing backlash internationally that challenges these ideas and points at the capitalist system at the root of all oppression Likewise, powerful sporting bodies are unlikely to grapple with the complex task of altering categorisation in sport to become more inclusive, when this would come up against society’s traditional ideas of gender, and therefore challenge the way society is structured as we know it.
A socialist society, which puts need and equality over profit and privilege, would break down the hierarchies and discrimination that capitalism encourages, and would finally make sexism, racism and rigid gender roles ideas of the past.
Solidarity with Imane Khelif and all victims of the witch-hunt
CW: Transphobia, Racism and Misogyny
Words by Sorcha Ní Fhaoláin — originally posted on ROSA Socialist Feminist Movement Instagram. Sorcha is an activist with Rosa Socialist Feminist Movement and with the Socialist Party. She has been involved in the Irish Cycling scene for over 40 years, during which time she has been an elite rider, a coach and manager at Elite National team level. She is a multiple time National Medalist & Champion cyclist.
Imane Khelif has found herself to be at the centre of a world media and political witch-hunt, when she should be concentrating on what is possibly the pinnacle of her career as an elite athlete.
Far-right organisations, politicians and media have demanded that she submit to a ‘sex test’ to determine her femininity.
The simple fact is that she would most likely fail their test. She is not a normal woman. She is an Olympian at the height of her powers as an athlete on the biggest stage in the world.
And if she fails, then we must be prepared to watch others fail. Cis Women Athletes that they might not suspect as having an unfair advantage will fail, because being an elite athlete means that you have an advantage.
There are two boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting who are at the centre of this controversy.
Neither Khelif nor Lin were ever recognised as men. They have never identified as men. They were assigned female at birth and identify as women. They are not transgender.
Both athletes came to world attention simply because they don’t look feminine enough in the eyes of the men ruling a problematic boxing organisation (that is facing Olympic exclusion).
The argument against them is that in the 2023 World Boxing Championships DNA tests had ‘proved’ they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded.
And like Caster Semenya, they were initially tested because of suspicions about their femininity.
As is the case with every woman, there is a possibility of a chromosomal variation.
However, would this scandal even exist if both athletes conformed to western ideals of what a woman should look like? These transphobic and misogynistic witch-hunts have deeply racist overtones.
Defining eligibility to compete in Women’s Sports has its roots in racism and bigotry.
Defining women has been used in recent history to exclude women of colour.
The fact that Imane’s chosen sport is Boxing adds a further narrative.
This falls into the far-right narrative of protecting women, and of failed men beating up defenceless women athletes. This narrative is in fact rooted in backwards and patriarchal stereotypes that promote male supremacy and female subjugation.
Linked to this, the far-right, and so many in the wider political and sporting establishment, are demanding that women conform to a gender binary (“there’s only male and female”) based on chromosomes XX (female) and XY (male). At some point you have to move past secondary school biology lessons. There are many other chromosome types, such as: XXY, XO, XXX, XYY, and even Mosaic Variants.
World Intersex & Trans Organisations have come out in support of Imane Khelif, but there is no evidence that she is either Intersex or Trans. In fact, why should that even matter?
All feminist organisations need to step up and stand beside her. No more policing of women’s bodies.
