Why are accounts like Libs of TikTok and J.K. Rowling pushing blatant misinformation online about alleged “men” in Olympic women’s boxing?
On Thursday, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif competed against Italy’s Angela Carini in the Round of 16, and Carini quit 46 seconds into their bout after Khelif landed a hard punch on her exposed chin.
Online anti-trans voices jumped on this match as an example of an apparent “trans woman”—in their transphobic words a “man”—hurting innocent women like Carini who just want to compete in sports.
But in pushing that false narrative, the online commentators are the ones actually hurting women—both cis and trans—who want to compete in sports. Khelif isn’t a trans woman. She’s also not a man. She’s literally a cis woman, competing in women’s boxing, as per all the guidelines set out by the Olympics.
Senior editor Mel Woods breaks down why these narratives that are supposedly in support of women athletes actually do nothing but harm all athletes.
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