The political debate over defining gender has escalated as politicians, pundits, activists, sporting heroes and children’s book authors all weigh in on the gender identity of several players participating in the Paris Olympics.

Warning: This story contains details which might be distressing for some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.

In recent days there has been growing speculation online about several players in both the football and boxing realms, with accusations that some female players may be genetically male.

Most prominent in the discussion has been Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu‑ting. Both players were ruled ineligible at the World Boxing Championships run by the International Boxing Association (IBA) which were held in New Delhi last year.

At the time officials said some players had failed a gender test, specific details of the test were not made public. The competition at the Olympics is being run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which uses a different criterion for determining gender eligibility.

In the lead up to the boxing competition starting the IOC told the media that all competitors met the gender eligibility requirements that had been set.

“They comply with the eligibility rules and I think that’s as it should be. This involves real people. We are talking about real people’s lives.

“They have competed, and they continue to compete in this competition. They have lost, and they have won against other women throughout the years. And, by the way, I should make this absolutely clear for everyone: this is not a transgender issue.

“I think there has been some misreporting on this, and I think it’s very important to say that this is not a transgender issue. These women have been competing in competitions for many years.” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said.

While transgender athletes are currently not permitted to take part in the Olympics, people with Differences in Sexual Development (DSD) can compete. DSD covers a wide range of medical conditions.

Khelif has always competed as a woman, including participating in the Tokyo Olympics. There’s no indication that she identifies as transgender or intersex.

Today she faced off against Italy’s Angela Carini in a match that lasted less than a minute. Khelif quickly landed two blows to her opponent’s head and Carini opted to withdraw from the match. Carini sank to her knees shouting “It’s not fair” in Italian and refused to shake the winner’s hand.

The Italian athlete later told reporters that her comment about fairness was referring to it being unfair that her Olympic dream was ending at this point.

After Khelif’s victory, the IOC released a new statement saying both Khelief and Lin were previously victims of an “arbitrary” decision by the IBA.

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the statement said.

“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process. According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA secretary general and CEO.

“The IBA board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should ‘establish a clear procedure on gender testing’. The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.” the IOC said.

Authors, pundits, news hosts, and sporting heroes weigh in on the debate

For days campaigners against transgender people participating in sport have been highlighting questions about both boxers genders, often declaring that they are men.

Among them author JK Rowling who took to social media misgendering Khelif.

Liberal senator Claire Chandler who has pushed for legislation that limits transgender people competing in women’s sport said she believed Khelif was male.

“If (like most people) you are horrified at a woman being punched in the face by a male boxer, the answer is guaranteed single-sex female sport. If you are worried about the scrutiny on the Algerian boxer, the answer is guaranteed single-sex female sport.

“If you’re concerned about both, the answer is guaranteed single-sex female sport. Stop pretending this is complex.” Senator Chandler posted to social media site X.

Her comments were applauded by colleague Senator Sarah Henderson who said the failure to protect women from competing against “biological men” at the Paris Olympics was an “utter disgrace”.

Veteran journalist Paul Bongiorno and social commentator Prue MacSween both declared Khelif was “trans”. While former US President Donald Trump posted a clip of today’s fight saying he’d “keep men out of women’s sport”.

Sall Grover, CEO of defunct social media app Giggle for Girls, bluntly declared “We know he has XY chromosomes & a d***. He’s a man.” on social media platform X.

On Sky News host Danica De Giorgio said Khelif being allowed to participate in the Olympics in the female category showed how “woke gender ideology had entrenched itself culturally.” as she launched into an 8-minute rant on the issue on her Friday night program Prime Time.

‘What is a woman?” De Giorgio asked her audience. “Once upon a time the definition was straight forward, no anyone can claim they are a woman and get away with it.”

De Giogio said she believed both Khelif and Lin were “born blokes – do doubt in my mind.”

One Nation NSW leader Tania Mihailuk joined a discussion on the program and said the IOC had been “infiltrated by woke ideology and left-wing countries.”

“I think the Olympics has come to a point where I’m tired of it and I think more and more people have to question ‘are they the pinnacle of sport anymore?’ I think not.” she said.

Earlier in the evening sports journalist Erin Molan said she’d spent all day trying to find any evidence about Khelif having transitioned gender and had been unable to definitively ascertain their gender history. Guest Jeff Fenech compared Khelif participating in the games to domestic violence.

“It’s sickening. We talk about looking after people today, we talk about domestic violence, this is a male belting on a female, it’s uncalled for and unwanted.” the boxer said.

“This is a male fighting a female. It’s scary.” Fenech said.

“We’re letting a male beat up on a female. It’s terrible.”

Intersex advocates call for an end to “harmful rhetoric”

Morgan Carpenter from Intersex Human Rights Australia has called for an end to harmful rhetoric in the discussion about the athletes.

Carpenter said the public discussion about Khelif’s sex and gender should be concerning to all women.

“Much of the hate focuses on their appearance and assertions and speculation about their sex characteristics. This should be concerning to all women.

“We have seen statements about women with innate variations of sex characteristics sandwiched between statements about transgender women. Much of this debate is vile and misleading, as if to conjure up images of large masculine men punching down on petite feminine women.” Carpenter said.

“Irrespective of their actual sex characteristics, athletes should always be able to compete, without preconditions, in their birth-observed, birth-assigned sex.

“It is never ethical to re-classify an adult or adolescent out of their birth-observed, birth-assigned sex, without their personal free, prior and informed consent.”

Carpenter also noted that there were ethical concerns about how the public debate was progressing.

“…it is not ethical to speculate about the identities of women athletes in countries where LGBT identities are criminalised, nor is it ethical to call for their sex to be reclassified.”

Homosexual acts are illegal in Algeria where Imane Khelif is from, and those caught engaging in same sex acts can face imprisonment.

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