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SALT LAKE CITY — Several of Utah's top GOP leaders have spread misconceptions and questioned the sex of a top female Olympic boxer, just months after decrying controversial public comments from a State School Board member who speculated that a Utah high school athlete is transgender.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has been the subject of derision from many American conservatives since she defeated Italian Angela Carini in a welterweight bout on Thursday. Carini ended the fight 46 seconds in and declined to shake Khelif's hand.
Although Carini later said she regretted the decision and wished to apologize to Khelif, outrage poured in from Republican politicians — including top leaders in Utah — who accused Khelif of being a man or a transgender woman.
Khelif is not transgender and was born female. The allegations against her stem from the International Boxing Association, which had its status as the governing body for boxing rescinded following allegations of corruption and financial ties to Russian state energy firm Gazprom. The boxing association challenged Khelif's eligibility last year, just days after she defeated Russian boxer Amineva Azalia, but the International Olympic Committee has defended Khelif's ability to compete and said, "Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition."
"Enough is enough. Men don't belong in women's sports," Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said in a post on Thursday, which was later shared by Gov. Spencer Cox. "This should never happen to any of our female athletes. They deserve better."
Cox shared another post on his personal X account from GOP Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw saying: "Anyone with at least one good eye and common sense can see this wasn't a fair fight. Angelia Carini dedicated her life to boxing and a shot at Olympic glory. Forcing her to fight a competitor with inherent biological advantages was dangerous and immoral."
Utah Senate President Stuart Adams said, "No female competitor should ever face the threat of unfair competition or compromised safety," and Utah Sen. Mike Lee shared an artificial intelligence-generated image of a bearded man with long hair punching a woman in the head.
"The whole point of women's sports is to exclude men," he said in a separate post. "So why have women's sports if men are allowed to compete in them?"
Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 International Boxing Association World Championships in New Delhi last March. The association's president, Umar Kremlev, who has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told a Russian state news agency last year that Khelif was removed from the competition after testing for having XY chromosomes.
A statement from the boxing association issued on Wednesday said Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting "did not undergo a testosterone examination" in 2023, but said an unspecified test "conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria."
The presence of Y chromosomes is responsible for male development in humans, although there are rare instances in which women have XY chromosomes. Having XY chromosomes has not been proven to give an advantage to female athletes.
The International Olympic Committee issued a statement affirming the eligibility of both Khelif and Lin, calling the athletes "victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA (International Boxing Association)."
"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 stated. "Such an approach is contrary to good governance. Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence."
Carini, the boxer who ended her fight with Khelif after 46 seconds, later apologized for not shaking hands with Khelif, saying: "All this controversy makes me sad. I'm sorry for my opponent, too. ... If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision."
"Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else," Carini added. "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."
In an interview with SNTV on Sunday, Khelif said the scrutiny she has faced "harms human dignity."
"I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects," she said in Arabic. "It can destroy people, it can kill people's thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying."
KSL.com reached out to spokespersons for Cox, Schultz, Adams and Lee asking if the elected officials would like to address their earlier comments or apologize, but none of them responded.
Many state leaders reacted harshly to a controversy over an athlete's gender in Utah earlier this year when State School Board member Natalie Cline shared a photo of a student-athlete from the Granite School District and implied that the 16-year-old girl was transgender. The Utah Legislature formally censured Cline, saying she "reprehensibly questioned the student's gender publicly and without evidence."
The censure resolution said, "Cline's abhorrent actions caused the student emotional harm and exposed the student to relentless harassment and bullying" and noted that school board "members shall respect the privacy of students."
"I just want to say I'm sorry to the family," Schultz told reporters in February. "I can't imagine — as a parent of four girls — having to go through what that girl is going through and what that family is going through. It's not fair and it's not right. And my heart breaks for that family — literally."
Cox and Lt. Gov. Henderson said they were "stunned to learn of the unconscionable behavior of board member Cline and others toward a high school student today," in a joint statement. "The last thing our children need is an elected official harassing them on social media."
"What she did was reprehensible and we condemn it," Adams said of Cline's actions.
Utah lawmakers have addressed transgender issues in each of the last three legislative sessions and approved a ban on transgender girls competing in high school sports on the last night of the session in 2022. Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, who sponsored the bill said at the time it was intended to protect fairness in women's sports.
Birkeland joined in the backlash to Cline's comments in February, saying: "It is not brave or responsible to attack someone based on their outward appearance, especially when it's a child. It's horrible."
In a post in response to Khelif's victory over Carini, Birkeland said: "America is at a wild crossroads right now! It's like a plot twist in a sitcom: the same folks who once struggled to define what a woman is are now passionately shouting, 'That's a woman!' When did they all become biologist's?"
Correction: An earlier headline incorrectly spelled the name of Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz.
