Why Is JK Rowling Calling a Cisgender Female Olympian a Man?

There are no transgender women at the Olympics, so gender critical “feminists” found someone else to pick on

Kaylin Hamilton
Prism & Pen

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Photo by cottonbro studio via Pexels

No transgender women are competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but that hasn’t stopped the usual suspects from going on an anti-trans witch hunt.

Instead, they picked boxer Imane Khelif — who looks a little bit too masculine for their liking — and targeted her instead.

After Khelif beat her opponent, Angela Carini, after just 46 seconds in the ring, Rowling and others claimed Khelif must be a man.

The problem with that?

Well, there are many problems with that, obviously, but among them is the fact that Imane Khelif is a cisgender woman.

That hasn’t stopped the likes of JK Rowling or “gender critical” Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore from referring to Imane Khelif as a “biological male”, implying she’s transgender or intersex, and that therefore she cheated.

Successful boxing career

Khelif, from Algeria — a country which does not allow gender transition and effectively criminalises transgender people’s existence — was assigned female at birth and has lived her entire life…

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Kaylin Hamilton
Prism & Pen

I write about feminist issues, queer politics, disability and social justice. PhD in Sociology & Social Policy. Editor for Prism & Pen. She/Her.