Following Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif’s legal complaint regarding online harassment, Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, has remained silent on the social media platform, X. Considering Rowling’s frequent opinionated presence on X, her weeks-long silence including the deletion of over 25 posts, had been quite alarming, to say the least.
Imane Khelif’s Legal Complaint
After beating Italian boxer, Angela Carin, in their opening-round fight, Imane Khelif was immediately thrown into the fire. Khelif won their fight after a quick 46 seconds when Carini conceded, stating that Khelif hit harder than any woman she had faced. Although she won her fight, Khelif would find her celebratory win tarnished by online accusations of being a man.
In the legal complaint, Khelif would name Rowling and others with accusations of online harassment during 2024’s Summer Olympics. The uncruel treatment the boxer faced stemmed from speculation that she had an unfair advantage over her competitors in Women’s boxing because of her gender coming into question.
According to certain X users, Khelif was a biological male making it unfair for her to compete in Women’s boxing. On Rowling’s part, she would be active on the social media platform on August, 7th with nine separate posts against her. Particularly, one post even seemed to agree with the accusations that Khelif was indeed biologically male.
J.K. Rowling’s Social Media Attacks
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In the now-deleted post, J.K. Rowling would attack people posting images of various women athlete body types in an attempt to educate her on the fluidity of their bodies. In other words, these users were trying to show that muscles or body shape have little to do with gender identity.
However, Rowling would double down on her remarks by mocking these individuals, saying that bombarding her with images of women who don’t look like Barbie to prove a point is like spamming her with pics of various-shaped potatoes to prove rocks are healthy.
In another post that happened a day after Khelif won over Carini, Rowling clarified her problem regarding the decision. She’d state that she was more concerned over a man punching a woman than some objectified stance falsely accusing her of being transgender.
Aftermath of Online Backlash
Sadly, this online backlash may not be the first time that Khelif found herself in hot water because of her gender identity. Allegedly, Khelif had failed the International Boxing Association’s provided gender test in 2023 before winning a gold medal in the women’s 66 kg boxing division.
Even more, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) didn’t dissuade them from allowing Khelif’s inclusion to compete in Olympic boxing. Along with Khelif, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting was allowed to participate in boxing at the 2024 Summer Olympics despite questions surrounding their gender.
Not only was a failed gender test revealed following the online backlash but so was Khelif’s rare physical condition. It seems that Khelif is affected by Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) which causes an imbalance in the genes, hormones, and even women’s reproductive organs. As a result of this physical condition, Khelif contains both the X and Y chromosomes in her body.
The Next Chapter of Olympic Champion
Unfortunately, Rowling wasn’t alone in spreading these accusations. Public figures like 2024’s presidential candidate, Donald Trump, and X owner, Elon Musk, shared their support as well. In a post-Olympics interview, Khelif stated that she was hurt and in fear by the online attacks, even naming Trump and Musk by name. Despite these attacks, however, Khelif would show appreciation to God, the Algerian people, those in the Arab community, and her inner support system for keeping her focused. Overall, she was happy with herself for not letting the hate and backlash get the best of her, so she could make her country proud as an Olympic champion.
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