Vitriol about female boxer fuels concern of backlash against LGBTQ+ and women athletes

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said Friday that Khelif “was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport.” He warned “not turn it into some kind of witch hunt.” Some athletes and LGBTQ+ observers worry that hateful comments from critics — and the IOC failing to address a larger global conversation before the Olympics — have already started to vilify transgender, nonbinary and other LGBTQ+ people at an event championing inclusion. While the Paris Olympics has pushed an agenda of openness and a record 193 openly LGBTQ+ athletes are competing, a performance by drag queens during the opening ceremony faced intense backlash from religious conservatives and others contending that it mocked the Leonardo da Vinci's “Last Supper.” Some performers and the opening ceremony's artistic director say they have received threats. These people aren’t ‘protecting women’s sport,’ they are enforcing rigid gender norms, and anyone who doesn’t fit into those norms is targeted and vilified.” The controversy is rooted in claims by the International Boxing Association that Khelif and Lin failed unspecified and untransparent eligibility tests for women’s competition, which the IOC called “a sudden and arbitrary decision" from a governing body it has banned from the Olympics since 2019. He said it is the responsibility of the Olympic body to “look after” the athletes and “make sure that they’re safe.” Though some like Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of Outsports, a site that tracks LGBTQ+ participation in the Olympics, say failures by the IOC to provide clarity before the Games has hurt both female athletes and LGBTQ+ competitors, both of whom have long fought for recognition.