Some smart people I respect have correctly pointed out that Imane may have been the target of some pretty harsh personal attacks that are unwarranted. Nobody deserves to be treated with disrespect, but that doesn't necessarily mean they deserve to be allowed in the ring?
It seems like a reasonable approach is for Olympic boxing to use the same protocols to determine sex for the sake of competition used in almost every other sport. Imane and all boxers should agree to the same testing as the rest of the sporting world.
If she passes, she deserves our support. If she fails, she should not step back into the ring. Either way people's ire might be better directed at boxing's governing body not Ms. Khelif?
Does Imane Khelif Belong in the Women’s Ring?
No, but transgender ideology has sown confusion as to why.
By Colin Wright, WSJ
Updated Aug. 7, 2024 4:00 pm ET
What happened in that Olympic women’s boxing match? Imane Khelif of Algeria pummeled Angela Carini of Italy for 46 seconds before Ms. Carini threw in the towel. The Algerian boxer is biologically male but allowed to compete in the female category, raising concerns about fairness and safety. Imane Khelif isn’t transgender, but the language of transgender ideology has led to widespread confusion.
Trans-identified men have fought women, with disastrous results. Fallon Fox inflicted a concussion and an orbital-bone fracture on an opponent in 2014 and has bragged on social media about injuring women in the ring. But Imane Khelif appears to have what is known as a difference of sexual development, or DSD, not a transgender identity. DSDs are complex and confusing enough without the added layer of ideological jargon. Here’s what we know—and don’t know:
The International Boxing Association disqualified Imane Khelif from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships for failing two laboratory tests. The IBA didn’t specify the tests but said they weren’t related to testosterone levels.
In 2023, IBA President Umar Kremlev stated that several boxers had been disqualified from IBA competition following “a series of DNA tests,” later clarifying that these athletes “had XY chromosomes”—that is, they were genetically male. IBA rules define “Women/Female/Girl” as “an individual with chromosome XX.” We can therefore deduce that Imane Khelif was disqualified for having XY chromosomes.
DSDs can prevent a person who is genetically male from developing male physical traits. One is Swyer syndrome, which occurs when the SRY gene on the Y chromosome, which directs male development, is missing or inactive. Without this gene, the body can’t develop testes. Instead, the gonads remain undifferentiated. No testes means no testosterone production, so the fetus develops female internal and external anatomy. The lack of testosterone also prevents male puberty, a process that confers masculine features and a physical advantage in sports. Given Imane Khelif’s masculine features and upper-body muscle mass, we can almost certainly rule out Swyer syndrome.
Another possibility is complete or partial androgen insensitivity syndrome, known respectively as CAIS or PAIS. Persons with this condition have XY chromosomes, develop normal testes, and produce male levels of testosterone. But their cells have defective androgen receptors that respond poorly if at all to testosterone.
People with complete androgen insensitivity exhibit a totally female external presentation, despite being biologically male. Given Imane Khelif’s androgynous appearance, complete androgen insensitivity can be ruled out. Partial androgen insensitivity is a possibility. Individuals with PAIS undergo a partial male puberty, which confers physical advantages in sports, justifying their exclusion from the female category.
The most probable DSD for Imane Khelif is 5-alpha reductase deficiency, or 5-ARD. People with 5-ARD have XY chromosomes and testes that produce testosterone. But because of a gene mutation affecting the 5-alpha reductase enzyme, their testosterone can’t be converted to dihydrotestosterone, which is essential for developing male genitals. People with 5-ARD, though biologically male, are born with female-appearing or ambiguous external genitals, leading to potential misidentification as female at birth. Many with 5-ARD are raised as girls, only discovering their condition at puberty when their internal testes trigger male puberty. This results in masculine features and a physical advantage over women in sports.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya, who won Olympic gold medals in the 800 meters twice, has 5-ARD. Transgender activists describe the runner as a “cisgender” woman with a vagina who “naturally” produces high levels of testosterone. The mainstream-media misinformation campaign was so effective that many are unaware that Caster Semenya is biologically male with functioning testes and XY chromosomes. “Cisgender” usually refers to people whose “gender identity” matches their sex, but in this case it obscures the fact that the runner’s sex was misidentified at birth.
Why can Imane Khelif compete as a woman in the Paris Olympics despite having male chromosomes, visual evidence of high testosterone, and the IBA’s disqualification? Because in June 2023, the International Olympic Committee announced that boxing events at the Paris Olympics wouldn’t be run by the IBA, citing “very concerning issues” with its “governance and its refereeing and judging system.” The IOC promised a new system that “puts boxers first” by “lowering the complexity of the qualification process,” but no guidelines were ever specified.
This incompetence is staggering. Allowing males to compete against females in any sport requiring strength or speed is unfair, but including them in women’s combat sports completely disregards women’s safety. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that disregarding biology in the name of ideology may get someone killed.
Mr. Wright, an evolutionary biologist, is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
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