Neither of the boxers courting such controversy, Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif are trans or “men”, neither by virtue of having gone through male puberty, having male genitalia or the whole “XY Chromosomes = Male” argument that has popped up the last few weeks.
Here's the unvarnished truth, take it or leave it*
Khelif had been disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023 as a biological male. The boxer appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but “withdrew the appeal during the process,” the IBA said on Wednesday.
The association protested the IOC decision to allow Khelif to compete in Paris, arguing that its rules “raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety.”
The IOC has ruled that both Khelif and Lin Tu-ting – a boxer representing Chinese Taipei – “are women according to their passports.” The Olympic body has also excluded the IBA from the Paris games, in part because the association is based in Russia.
The boxing competition at the Paris Olympics has been organised by the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), established by the IOC’s Executive Board.
“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit,” the IOC said in a statement.
“The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”
According to Algeria, Khelif is not transgender at all but a woman affected by a condition known as hyperandrogenism, characterized by a high level of testosterone and the presence of XY chromosomes.
Does having a Y chromosome make you a man? Does lacking one make you a woman?
No.
Being a man or a woman is a matter of gender, not a simple matter of a chromosomal algebra.
Certainly the genes on our chromosomes contribute to our development, but they don’t simply dictate our gender as boys or girls, men or women.
The X and Y chromosomes are called “sex chromosomes” because they contribute to how a person’s sex develops. Most males have XY chromosomes and most women have XX chromosomes.
But there are girls and women who have XY chromosomes. This can happen, for example, when a girl has androgen insensitivity syndrome. And there are boys and men who have XX chromosomes. This can happen, for example, when a gene on the Y chromosome ends up on an X chromosome, causing that X chromosome to function more like a Y.
There are genes on chromosomes other than the X or Y that also contribute to sex development. Because of all this, the term “sex chromosomes” is really something of a misnomer.
Just looking at whether a person has XX or XY (or some other variation) won’t tell you conclusively about that person’s sex development, and it certainly won’t tell you about that person’s gender.
It is worth remembering that most of us know whether we are men or women even though we have no idea what our “sex chromosomes” are.
Gender identity is about who you know yourself to be, not about how your sex chromosomes look on a microscope slide.
Doctors look at the “sex chromosomes” of people with DSD as part of coming up with a diagnosis, but they don’t treat the “sex chromosomes” alone as a simple answer to anything. Our “sex chromosomes” are just part of the picture of who we are.
*If you don't believe people with genetic disorders that give them an advantage should be allowed to compete that's a whole different kettle of fish than "a bloke is beating up women".
When the controversy began I also believed she was a male fighter.
She isn’t. She was born female, has female genitalia and has never gone through male puberty but she has a hormone imbalance, which is not so rare, and higher levels of testosterone which is also not so rare.
She is simply a big, tough woman, the type who works the door at your local nightclub or you see in the gym every day.
Either way, this has nothing to do with trans women or “males” invading cisgender women’s sports.
Question: Is Imane Khelif male or female?
Answer: She is female and boxing in the right category.
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This is an incredibly confused post. First you try to suggest it could be some female specific DSD like Swyers syndrome. But it doesn't fit the profile given the male levels of testosterone, athleticism and blatant male puberty. If there is a DSD, all the available facts point to the male specific 5-alpha reductase deficiency.
But then you go on to say it doesn't really matter, because sex isn't important when deciding whether biological men should be allowed to punch women in the face and cheat them out of medals. What's actually important is 'gender' identity. If Mike Tyson assumed a female 'gender' identity and changed his legal gender, you cool with him jumping in the ring with women? Because I can't see how your criteria would prohibit that.
These two athletes are men. They know they are men. And defending them instead of the actual women they are punching and cheating out of medals will age very badly.
Being a man or a woman is a matter of gender, not a simple matter of a chromosomal algebra.
Actually, according to biological science the sex genes are what defines male from female.
As Heather Heying so eloquently put it, "If you method of sexual transmission is small and motile, you are a male. If your method of sexual transmission is large and sessile, you are a female." The Sex genes are what provide the secondary characteristics that show up in puberty, (the breasts and vagina in females, and the pubes and testicles in males.)
Biological Sex is very important, because some medications only work on men and some only work on women.
Gender, as a concept, was rarely used before 1960. All travel documents and official government documents used the biological sex.
It was a freaking sex offender who was masquerading as a researcher that made Gender popular.
There are masculine looking women and feminine looking men, but they are women and men, they don't pretend to be the other sex.
As for your claim of HyperAndrogenism, here are the indicators: Clinical manifestations of hyperandrogenism include hirsutism, acne, androgenic alopecia, and virilization. Hirsutism, defined as excessive growth of terminal hair in women in a male-like pattern, is the most commonly used clinical diagnostic criterion of hyperandrogenism.
Let's take an example. Rhonda Rousey is a female heavy weight boxer. However, pound for pound, her punches don't break other women's orbital sockets or cause brain damage. Whereas, a man who's pretending to be a woman will hit harder, and cause more damage, because of muscle mass.
Gender should not be the deciding factor in sports, it should be biological sex.
That's just my opinion.