Yes, Imane Khelif is cisgender. But trans women still belong in sports.

Last week, Imane Khelif became the center of anti-trans hate when bigoted billionaires on Twitter (which as I’ve written before, I will continue to deadname until Elon Musk gets his act straight regarding transphobia on his site), referred to her as a man. It’s interesting to note that the anti-trans hate is unusual considering the fact that she’s a cisgender woman.

Many Twitter users who spread this misinformation took issue with Khelif being disqualified from the 2023 International Boxing Association (IBA) after she failed an unspecified eligibility test midway through the bracket. The nature of the test has not been made public but IBA President Umar Kremlev told Russian news agency Tass that a DNA test showed that Khelif had XY chromosomes. Having XY chromosomes is typical in those assigned male at birth but certain conditions, such as androgen insensitivity syndrome, can result in those assigned female at birth to have an XY makeup.

There has been a lot of discourse surrounding this story. Many are taking note of how fast misinformation can get spread. Some are noting that keeping trans women out of sports also affects cis women. Both of these instances are true but there’s one thing that hasn’t been a consistent enough narrative: Trans women still belong in sports.

No matter what side of the fence you fall in, it’s vital to note that all of the hatred aimed at Khelif was rooted in transphobia (and racism, which will be touched on later in this editorial) and people need to pay attention to that.

“Although she’s been previously disqualified for failing a ‘gender test’ and has XY chromosomes, some sources say Imane Khelif was born a biological woman”.

Some have been praising Paul because he admitted he was wrong but too many people are missing the last sentence of the post.

“I stand by my sentiment that biological men should not compete against biological women in any sport and if you disagree you’re a sick f*ck”.

The “biological men” Paul is referring to in this instance (since I highly doubt he knows the difference between “cis” and “trans”) are trans women. Some people have taken this as a moment to learn about the complexities of chromosomes and gender. Good for them. However, if these people have problems with trans women in sports, the spread of misinformation about Khelif likely did not do anything to change that. Paul’s opinion didn’t change, after all.

New York Times bestselling author Ijeoma Oluo put it very eloquently about the need to fight for trans women in sports. In a recent video posted to her Instagram, the Black, queer activist took aim at the inherent racism in the bigotry aimed at Khelif. She noted the “Black and African women and non-white women who find themselves…put in these positions to defend their womanhood, often because their facial features and body composition deviate from white supremacist norms of femininity.”

She also ended in a zinger about trans inclusion.

“There’s a lot of people talking about trying to make this point that Imane Khelif is cisgender, and therefore this pushback against her, this harassment of her, is wrong,” Oluo said. “I want to stress that it’s wrong no matter what, and that…she is cisgender, that is clear. But even if she were not, she would still be a woman in sport, and it would still be wonderful for her to be competing, and her victory would still be a valid, beautiful victory that she obviously trained very, very hard for. And so I want to make sure that when we’re talking about this, that we’re not…reinforcing, unintentionally, this idea that trans women don’t belong in sport.”

The conversation around Khelif should reinforce the idea that all women belong in sports, as Oluo stated. That includes women with masculine appearances, women with XY chromosomes, and yes — trans women.

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Yes, Imane Khelif is cisgender. But trans women still belong in sports. - Philadelphia Gay News (2024)