Actress Gabrielle Union, the wife of NBA legend Dwyane Wade, defended controversial female boxer Imane Khelif from online accusations following the Algerian pug’s Paris Olympics match against Angela Carini.
The “Bring It On” star turned to X to subtly lash out at Khelif’s newfound bashers, saying, “Transphobia, misogyny, and good old plain racism. For many athletes, not fitting into arbitrary gender norms creates this whirling dervish of bigotry, harassment, and abuse.”
Transphobia, misogyny and good old plain racism. For many athletes, not fitting into arbitrary gender norms creates this whirling dervish of bigotry, harassment and abuse. https://t.co/9FscSNmW8h
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) August 1, 2024
Dwyane Wade’s wife quoted a tweet from former NFL star Torrey Smith in which he reiterated a fact about Khelif that may have been overlooked during the heated arguments about her eligibility.
“Imane Khelif was born a woman. Where does the she was born a man takes come from?” said the wide receiver, who won two championships but retired from the game at just 30 years old in 2019.
Contrary to what many would insist, Khelif, a 25-year-old welterweight, is a cisgender female but has a genetic disorder called “differences of sexual development” (DSD).
Because of DSD, Khelif has an unusual chromosome pattern; instead of having XX chromosomes, she acquired XYs. Khelif also has a high level of testosterone, which is unusual for a woman.
IOC airs side about boxer Dwyane Wade’s wife defended
The controversy surrounding Khelif began when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) still allowed her to compete in the Paris Olympics despite an earlier ban from the International Boxing Association (IBA).
The boxing organization previously barred her from completing her 2023 IBA Women’s World Championships campaign after failing what was coined as a gender test.
Contrary to speculations, the IBA said that Khelif, along with another boxer in question named Lin Yu-Ting, “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test.”
The IBA did not divulge the exact test that was done on Khelif and Lin, saying that the details would “remain confidential.”
However, the IOC, in defense of its decision to let them play, said that they were not given due process, especially since Imane Khelif was on the cusp of winning it all in her division.
“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. Such an approach is contrary to good governance,” the IOC’s statement read.
Due to various issues, the IOC stripped the IBA of the rights to sanction the Olympic boxing events since the 2021 games in Tokyo.
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