As the world’s eyes and interest have turned to Paris, the Olympics haven’t been free from issues and controversy. The events surrounding the boxing match between Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Italy’s Angela Carini have now become a hot topic and a conversation for many, including LSU president William Tate IV, who spoke out on the issue through his personal X (Twitter) account.
“This is illegal in Louisiana,” said Tate in his post. “We have established guidelines in our laws. Why don’t the Olympics go to two divisions—Open and Women? It allows everyone to compete. Will it take a death to stop this at the Olympic level?”
Apologizing for his statement but not addressing the misgendering and identification of Khelif, Tate walked back his statement less than two hours later.
“Colleagues pointed out LA laws do not deal directly with this context,” said Tate. “Thank you. And I appreciate the correction! I apologize for the error and any harm caused. I am committed to a solution that allows for broad, fair and safe participation. We can get there.”
Tate’s comments were widely criticized on X, and LSU student organization College Democrats put out a statement condemning the president.
“Not only did he spread a false narrative that this matchup would be illegal in the state of Louisiana–athletes are required to compete as the sex assigned at birth–he also perpetuated a false narrative that Olympian Imane Khelif is a transgender woman,” said College Democrats in a press release.
The match that began the controversy took place on August 1, and in just 46 seconds, Khelif had won. After 46 seconds, Carini forfeited the match. Carini’s decision to quit sparked controversy and speculation about Khelif and her ability to compete as a woman in the Olympics.
Many began to speculate that Khelif wasn’t born a woman and that she was a transgender woman. This sentiment rose around the same time as many other claims that Lin Yu-ting, a boxer from Taiwan, was not a woman as well.
The discussion took place mainly on X (Twitter), where people were calling Khelif and Yu-ting men and equated their participation in the Olympics to gender-based violence.
Much of the misinformation on the internet surrounding Khelif and Yu-ting happened because of a decision made by the International Boxing Association (IBA) that is now banned from the Olympics. A year ago, the IBA banned Khelif and Yu-ting from the World Championships, claiming they were ineligible because they didn’t pass their gender testing.
The testing method and results were never made available to anyone outside of the IBA president, Umar Kremlev. The decision to disqualify these women and previous corruption on the part of the IBA led to the organization being banned by the Olympics Committee, according to reporting by the BBC.
Both Algeria and Taiwan spoke out in support of the boxers, not only showing their passports proving that they are women but releasing childhood photos proving they were always women.
