Imane Khelif is an Algerian female boxer. She was born female, identifies as female, and is biologically female.
Without the help of hormone supplements, Khelif’s body produces an excess of testosterone (an androgen). Many reasons for this exist, including polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which may affect as many as 13% of women of childbearing age. Those androgens may cause or contribute to excess body hair, balding, increased muscle mass, and a deep voice, among other masculine traits.
My adult child, assigned female at birth (that’s literally when the OB/GYN sees female genitals and says it’s a girl!), is now 26 years old and visibly male. They are broad-shouldered and muscular and have a mustache and beard, grown without the help of any added hormones. They now identify as trans and use they/them, he/him pronouns. They have gender dysphoria, which stems from biology.
In a viral 2019 Twitter thread, marine biologist Rebecca R. Helm pointed out, “[B]iology is complicated.” Sex-related genes, chromosomes, hormones, cell receptors, and other factors determine your biological sex, and they don’t always work as expected. You can be genetically or chromosomally male or female; hormonally male/non-binary/female; you can have cells that may not hear the male/female/non-binary call, leading to a body that can be male/female/non-binary. Biological sex is complicated. You would probably be surprised by what you find out about your own hormones and chromosomes.
Different genders have been recognized for millennia. The Talmud (the compendium of Jewish laws and traditions written between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE), recognizes eight genders. Native Americans have creation stories about how their four or five different genders are determined.
So what do we do about a person assigned female at birth who is cisgender (the same gender as her birth-assigned sex) and competes in women’s Olympic boxing?
Nothing. She is a woman.
The GOATs, which Khelif is not, all have competitive advantages in speed, strength, height, weight, endurance, and wingspan. (Look at Michael Phelps, Simone Biles.) We can’t and shouldn’t ban them because their bodies are extra.
While I’m on the subject, the word “transgender” does not describe a person who has undergone a sex-change operation. A person who is transgender simply does not identify as the sex they were assigned at birth (the opposite of cisgender), for whatever reason, often linked to biology (see above).
And gender is different from sex. You can know the biological sex of your baby before it’s born, but you cannot have a “gender reveal” until the gender reveals itself to your child and your child reveals it to you.
Finally, gender-affirming care does not mean surgery. It can be as simple as your doctor calling you by your preferred name and referring to you by your preferred pronouns.
TERFs don’t know dick about biology. They might as well deny climate change, too.
For a cussier take, watch this trucker’s rant.
For some groovy beats, listen to Utah Miller as San Junipero.
Agreed with Susan. It’s really important to me to help educate other people about this, especially those who seem to have a lot of misunderstanding or misinformation.
❤️❤️❤️