Christians Push Back Against Conservative Fury at Imane Khelif

Christians have pushed back on social media against angry comments made toward Algerian women boxer Imane Khelif stemming from an allegation that the Olympic athlete is a man.

Controversy surrounding Khelif’s gender started after she won her round of 16 welterweight bout against Italian boxer Angela Carini in 46 seconds on Thursday at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Carini pulled out of the fight after a barrage of punches by Khelif ending with a powerful hit to Carini’s nose.

Khelif qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she has been criticized for being disqualified from the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) world championships in 2023 for failing gender eligibility tests.

The Olympics has its own set of entry and medical regulations, which Khelif met. Khelif also competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and won a silver medal at the IBA’s 2022 world championships.

Newsweek has reached out to the IBA via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.

Khelif was assigned female at birth and identifies as a woman. Furthermore, Khelif’s father, who did not approve of girls boxing when Khelif first got into the sport, has publicly shown his daughter’s birth certificate to prove that she is a woman, according to reports. It is also illegal to change your gender in Algeria.

Amid the backlash Khelif has been getting from conservatives, Zach Lambert, a pastor from Austin, Texas, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, “I had no idea that so many of my Facebook friends from high school are chromosome and gender experts, but I should have known because they are also inflation experts, infectious disease experts, foreign policy experts, and French performance art experts.”

Florida pastor Trey Ferguson posted to X on Friday: “My flabbers are still gasted about how people jumped out the window speakin on Imane Khelif yesterday. Like…all them principles behind the bigotry? Made up. Each & every one of em exposed yesterday. Just regular bigots. All cuz a boxer got punched hard in a boxing match.”

Robert Griffin III, a former player with the National Football League (NFL) and devout Christian, wrote on X on Friday, “Imane Khelif is a biological woman and if you want to protect our daughters, you should protect her. If you don’t do the research to find the truth, then we should be protected from you.”

Reverend Daniel Brereton, a priest at St. John’s Dixie Anglican Church in Ontario, Canada, shared screenshots on X on Thursday of what he called a “good” Facebook thread from Illinois Democratic politician Mike Ingram.

“For the weirdos who obsess over genitals, [Khelif] was born with a vagina. Meaning that by their weird rules where they want to check in kids’ pants before they compete, Imane would be deemed ‘girl athlete,'” part of the thread read.

Carini, meanwhile, said that “all this controversy makes me sad,” and apologized for not shaking Khelif’s hand after their fight.

“It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini said, according to the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”

Khelif Faces Backlash

Despite the evidence backing the fact that Khelif is a woman, people on social media, including prominent figures, have bashed the Olympic athlete.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who is widely criticized for being transphobic, wrote on X on Friday, “The idea that those objecting to a male punching a female in the name of sport are objecting because they believe Khelif to be ‘trans’ is a joke. We object because we saw a male punching a female.”

Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, posted on Thursday to X and wrote in part, “Enough of the gender insanity and the pandering to avoid hurting someone’s precious feelings. The Olympics just allowed a biological man, Imane Khelif, to pummel Italian Olympian Angela Carini.”

Ohio Senator JD Vance, former President Donald Trump‘s running mate in the upcoming election, replied to Kirk on Thursday, writing, “This is where [Vice President] Kamala Harris‘s ideas about gender lead: to a grown man pummeling a woman in a boxing match. This is disgusting, and all of our leaders should condemn it.”

Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is a proponent of LGBTQ+ rights.

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek in an article published Saturday morning: “President Trump has been unequivocally clear that he will NOT stand for men competing in women’s sports—an insane and unfair reality that has been allowed to transpire because of Radical Left politicians like Kamala Harris.”

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters on Thursday that Khelif’s fight against Carini was “not an equal competition,” according to an English translation.

“I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not participate in women’s competitions. Not because we want to discriminate against anyone, but to protect the rights of female athletes to compete on equal terms,” she said.

What Have Officials Said?

The IBA released a statement on Wednesday saying that Khelif and Paris Olympic athlete Lin Yu-ting, a Taiwanese female boxer who was also disqualified from the IBA world championships in 2023 for failing gender eligibility tests, “did not undergo a testosterone examination” but were subject to “separate and recognized” tests that will remain confidential.

“IBA remains committed in ensuring competitive fairness in all of our events, we absolutely condemn the inconsistencies in eligibility to compete in the boxing competition held in the Paris Olympic Games 2024,” the boxing organization said in another statement released on Thursday.

Lin competed in the Tokyo Olympics and on Friday, she won her bout against Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan 5:0 in Paris.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended its decision to allow Lin and Khelif to complete, writing in a statement on Thursday, “Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination.”

It continued: “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. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.”

Newsweek has also reached out to the IOC via online form for comment on Saturday afternoon.