LGBTQ+ athletes, officials and observers have warned that a deluge of hateful comments misidentifying female boxer Imane Khelif in the Paris Olympics as transgender or a man could pose dangers for the LGBTQ+ community and female athletes.
The concerns come as famous figures — from former U.S. President Donald Trump to “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling — have railed against the Algerian boxer after her Italian competitor Angela Carini quit their bout Thursday. They and other social media comments falsely claimed Khelif was a man fighting a woman.
The comments have rippled across social media, pulling Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting into the larger social contention about women in sports.
The International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said Friday that Khelif “was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport.”
He warned “not turn it into some kind of witch hunt.”
Some athletes and LGBTQ+ observers worry that hateful comments from critics — and the IOC failing to address a larger global conversation before the Olympics — have already started to vilify transgender, nonbinary and other LGBTQ+ people at an event championing inclusion. It comes as expanding interpretations of gender identity have spurred a larger political tug-of-war, often centered around sports.
While the Paris Olympics has pushed an agenda of openness and a record 193 openly LGBTQ+ athletes are competing, a performance by drag queens during the opening ceremony faced intense backlash from religious conservatives and others contending that it mocked the Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper.” Some performers and the opening ceremony’s artistic director say they have received threats.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-lqbtq-transgender-boxing-ec1b367c5f09a9b4bc59bf684a713c24