IOC President Thomas Bach says Imane Khelif is a cisgender woman
The IOC stated that there had never been any doubt that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was a cisgender woman. IOC President Thomas Bach also said that Khelif “stands up for the rights of women in her country”.
New Albany resident Philip Derrow is a retired business owner who served two terms on the New Albany-Plain Local Board of Education.. He is a regular contributor to the Columbus Dispatch.
In Ohio, reality has prevailed.
After more than a year of legislative work, the override of Governor Mike DeWine’s unfounded veto, and a judicial review, both parts of House Bill 68 are now final law.
The Protection of Juveniles from Experimentation Act restricts the provision of permanent, life-altering, and unproven medical and surgical procedures to minors with gender dysphoria.
The Saving Women’s Sports Act requires that school and college sports teams that are not coed must be all-male. This means that men’s and boys’ teams are for men only and women’s and girls’ teams are for women only.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health would have us believe that there is agreement on the evidence for “gender-affirming care,” but the truth is very different. The UK’s Cass Review concluded that much of the evidence was of “poor quality,” and now the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has spoken out to challenge this apparent consensus.
European countries such as the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have conducted comprehensive evidence reviews on medical and surgical interventions for adolescents with gender dysphoria. They have found little evidence of the effectiveness of these interventions and have tightened their eligibility requirements and clinical guidelines accordingly.
Young people suffering from gender identity disorder should be treated with kindness, dignity and respect. Experience shows that, with the right support, the overwhelming majority of them will accept the reality of their biological sex, sexual orientation and, ultimately, their personality.
As adults, they should be free to live their lives as they see fit, and they should be free from discrimination or government interference. They are our neighbors, our family, and our friends, and we should treat them as such.
Males are stronger than females
The reality of biological sex is also essential to the Saving Women’s Sports Act section of HB 68. No matter how someone feels, how they perform, how they were raised, or what is written on their birth certificate or passport, people cannot change their gender.
Although it is not as simple as XX chromosomes making women and XY chromosomes making men, human sex is binary. There is no third, fourth, or infinite spectrum of sex. The existence of disorders or differences of sexual development (DSDs) that complicate the simple XX/XY dichotomy does not change this fact, any more than the existence of one-legged humans changes the fact that we are a bipedal species.
In sports, the differences between the sexes are clear. On average – and this is the crucial point – men are stronger and faster and have larger bones, muscles, lungs and hearts than women. The existence of exceptions or overlaps, where some women are stronger and faster than some men, does not change the rule.
There are actually physical benefits for men.
For thousands of years, men have used their physical advantages to dominate women. It is only in recent generations that women have regained some of this power with the help of the law.
At the just-concluded Olympic Games, two female boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu Ting, won gold in their weight classes, although it is disputed whether they are actually men with DSD.
The controversy arose from the disqualification of both boxers in March 2023 by the International Boxing Federation and was reported to the International Olympic Committee before the start of the Games in Paris.
According to the IBA report, the boxers were disqualified after two blood tests showed that both athletes did not meet the requirements for women. While the test results have not yet been made public – although the athletes could have requested this – IBA rules require female competitors to have XX chromosomes. The athletes were given the opportunity to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Khelif filed an appeal but was unable to complete it. Lin did not appeal.
It is important to note that prior to this testing, there is no evidence that the athletes were known since birth or competed as anything other than female. This does not mean that they do not have DSDs.
To add to the drama, in June 2023 the IOC itself withdrew its recognition from the IBA due to financial and ethical concerns that arose in the run-up to the cases of these two athletes.
Such disputes are easily resolved through cheek swab gender testing or blood tests, which are no more invasive than the doping tests that Olympians already accept. The International Olympic Committee simply does not use them, relying instead on passports.
If these two people were simply living their lives, their gender would be no one’s business but theirs. But here it matters because they are athletes competing in gender-specific categories, categories that exist for good reasons.
If girls’ and women’s sports are to survive, they must be reserved exclusively for women. Men simply have no place there, regardless of how they see themselves.
Women should neither sacrifice their hard-won achievements nor withdraw from the competition to prove their point. That is why appropriate laws are necessary.
Although there are only two genders, humans have an infinite variety of abilities and personalities. We can appreciate and support the beauty of this diversity without denying the objective reality of gender.
New Albany resident Philip Derrow is a retired business owner who served two terms on the New Albany-Plain Local Board of Education.. He is a regular contributor to the Columbus Dispatch.
