Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas Republicans are spreading Russian misinformation over an Algerian boxer’s gender at the Olympics and using the event as an opportunity to attack trans people.
The controversy began after Italian boxer Angela Carini withdrew from her match against Algerian Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds. After that, there were rumors saying that Khelif was a trans boxer or a man. Abbott believed the rumors and used the controversy to blast trans people in Texas.
“NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS!!!” Abbott wrote on X/Twitter after the match. “That is the law in Texas. It should be the standard everywhere.”
Khelif was assigned female at birth due to external observation and in Algeria it is illegal to change one’s gender.
“What in the wide world of sports are these idiots thinking at the Olympics?” LT. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote. “This is unfair to all women athletes … We must fight back on every level against this continued Democrat assault against girls and women.”
The International Olympic Committee bars trans athletes or those who have gone through male puberty.
However, the rumors of Khleif being a transexual or male athlete might have begun thanks to Russian-affiliated individuals.
In 2023, Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for failing a gender eligibility test. The IBA has not specified which tests were made, nor the results nor who tested it.
The IBA’s president, Umar Kremlev is backed by Russian state-backed energy giant Gazprom and by other organizations with close ties to the Kremlin.
The IBA was banned from the Olympics due to corruption allegations.
Accusing athletes of being trans or males under disguise is a common strategy in Russian media. In 2021, Simone Biles was attacked by Olga Skabeeva, host of the Kremlin-sponsored TV program 60 Minutes.
“According to her passport, she is actually a woman. What this woman has been taking in order to look like this, God only knows,” she said in the program.
Political scientist Validmir Kornliov also said in the same show that both Serena and Venus Williams were transexual athletes.
“You could turn anyone into a woman and send them in to compete,” he said. “It’s all about inequality. We all know why the Williams sisters are winning. Everyone knows and understands.”
It is worth noting that Texas officials’ statements mirror those made by Russian media when a female athlete loses to a non-white competitor.
