The Olympic boxing match between Angela Carini of Italy and Imane Khelif of Algeria has sparked worldwide controversy and outrage. In my opinion, anger is justified, but only if directed at the proper target. I don’t think either of the athletes “cheated.” These young people played according to the rules the authority figures in their lives established. The blame lies entirely with those authorities. I blame the International Olympic Committee for its negligence and cowardice in setting its eligibility rules. I blame the trans rights activists and their sponsors for deliberately fostering the mass confusion about sex and gender that lies behind this entire episode.

This case hinges on understanding the difference between a person who identifies himself or herself as “transgender” vs. a person who has one of a number of Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD). The Accord Alliance, an advocacy group for those with DSD, states, “Today, there is clear medical consensus that the term DSD refers to ‘congenital conditions in which development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomic sex is atypical.’”

The Very Rare Exceptions to the Gender Binary

DSDs are medical conditions that can be determined by objective, observable criteria. Biologist Colin Wright explains the most probable DSD for Imane Khelif is 5-alpha reductase deficiency (5-ARD):

People with 5-ARD have XY chromosomes and testes that produce testosterone. However, due to a mutation in a gene that codes for an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase, the testosterone produced by their testes during development is unable to be converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is required for the development of male external genitalia. As a result, people with 5-ARD, despite being biologically male, are born with genitals that appear typically female or somewhat ambiguous. This can lead to some of these 5-ARD newborns to be mistakenly recorded as female on their birth certificates.

Many with 5-ARD are raised as girls, unaware of their condition until puberty when, instead of beginning to menstruate, their internal testes trigger male puberty. This results in masculine (androgenized) features and a physical advantage in sports. (Emphasis in original).

Dr. Wright infers that Khelif has XY chromosomes and testosterone levels typical of adult males, based on the information provided by the International Boxing Association. The IBA disqualified Khelif from participating in its 2023 competition, based on what we can reasonably deduce was a DNA test. Whether Khelif was “raised as a girl,” is irrelevant. (The internet sneer, “Just drop your pants, then we’ll know!” is not helpful in this situation.)

Transgenderism Is Different, a Psychological Illness

By contrast, the concept of “transgender” is entirely psychological. The American Psychological Association defines transgender: 

Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with their biological sex.

The APA defines “gender identity” this way:

Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female or something else.

In other words, the term “transgender” is subjective, by definition. There is no medical or other objective test that could establish whether a person is or is not “transgender.” A person can apply the “trans” label to themselves for any reason they want, and no one can say definitively whether they are wrong or right. In a recent article, I catalogued 9 different situations in which the term “transgender” could be applied, including persons with DSDs.

Trans Rights Activists (TRAs) frequently point to “intersexed” people (a less precise term than DSD) to bolster their claims that “sex is not binary,” or that “gender is a spectrum.” Once they’ve established that bit of confusion in the audience’s mind, they escort the person with DSD quickly off the stage. The TRAs then turn to their real purpose: convincing the world, including small children, that it is possible to change the sex of the body. Their end game is to remove male and female as legal and social categories. The TRAs are exploiting people with rare medical conditions to confuse innocent vulnerable children. This conduct is despicable and inexcusable.

The Trans Rights movement is much more than a handful of random guys wearing dresses. The US government, the most powerful government the world has ever known, has thrown its full weight into destabilizing society’s understanding of the sex of the body. The United Nations is on board. Numerous well-endowed foundations are financing the promotion of transgenderism. The circumstantial evidence for a well-planned, well-financed, top-down remaking of the whole society is simply overwhelming.

Evidently, the International Olympic Committee is also on board. The IOC could have prevented the current boxing fiasco. Some combination of DNA and testosterone tests administered routinely to everyone would have protected the female boxers, and the integrity of the sport.

Take a look at this chart showing typical testosterone levels of boys and girls at different ages. Boys and girls have comparable levels of testosterone until puberty. But starting around age 12, the testosterone levels diverge. After puberty, there is literally no overlap between boys and girls. This means that going through male puberty creates a biological advantage, regardless of the outward appearance of the person’s genitalia.

Biological Sex Is Easy to Determine via a Simple Medical Test

One of the authors of this study stated in a very thorough article in Quillette:

Doping and being male are two ways that an adult athlete might have ‘high T.’… There’s no indication that either Khelif or Lin Yu-ting (another Olympic boxer) is doping.

Therefore, for the practical purposes of sports eligibility, a high T person is male. What is so hard about the IOC requiring such tests? I’ll let the Quillette author continue:

For political reasons in general, not with respect to Khelif and Lin in particular, the IOC doesn’t want to test athletes for sex because, in its view, it’s “impractical”—meaning expensive in the multiple ways it cares about—and “discriminatory” against XY athletes who identify as women.

Instead of using objective medical tests, the IOC is using the gender listed on the person’s passport. This is a political criterion, not a scientific criterion. In today’s world, where different countries have adopted different rules about gender identity, the passport-identity-rule is guaranteed to be arbitrary and unfair. All things considered, I find it hard to take seriously the IOC’s complaint that the International Boxing Association acted “arbitrarily” when it disqualified Khelif and Lin.

Blame the Right Villains

I draw two conclusions from all this. First, this is a moral disaster. The IOC has adopted rules that are a calamity for female athletes, and a debacle for the Olympics as a symbol of achievement, excellence and good sportsmanship. The worldwide community has every reason to be angry with them, and with the Trans Rights movement which set into motion the policies that led to this disaster.

Second, I conclude that those of us in that worldwide community who are watching from the sidelines need to focus our anger on these institutions, not on the athletes. We should stop arguing amongst ourselves. The elites who have created this mass of confusion are perfectly happy for all of us to be alone, isolated, angry, confused and slightly stupid. We are much easier to manipulate when we are in that condition. So, please, I implore you: guard your peace of mind. Try not to lose friends over this issue. If we can stick together and focus our anger on the IOC and the trans rights movement, we might actually roll back this destructive agenda.

 

The Ruth Institute is a global nonprofit organization leading an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love. Founder and President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse is the author of The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village. Subscribe to the group’s newsletter and YouTube channel to get all its latest news.