Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan clinched her first Olympic medal Sunday in front of a crowd that chanted her name at the Paris Games, one day after fellow boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria secured one as well following days of online abuse and intense scrutiny about their participation.
Lin defeated Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria in a women’s 57-kilogram quarterfinal, earning her second straight unanimous decision and advancing to the division’s semifinal round to ensure she will win at least a bronze medal.
Lin and Khelif have been at the center of a clash over gender identity and regulations in sports, as critics have brought up their disqualification from the world championships last year after the banned International Boxing Association claimed they failed unspecified eligibility tests for women’s competition.
Well said. In addition to these stories demonizing trans people (or in this case, masc-looking cis people) they also fragilize women. We normally celebrate women in combat sports as feminist symbols, but suddenly we can’t stomach these delicate little angels being beat up.
I don’t know a ton about boxing, but in MMA fighters made similar comments about fighting Ronda Rousey, Cyborg, Joanna Jedrzeczyk, and Amanda Nunes. “I’ve never been hit that hard.” “She completely overpowered me.”
We already have a way of separating athletes based on their ability. It’s called competition. Sometimes you’re just outmatched.
This is 100% the point of the outrage. They are demonstrating that just the “potential” of being trans will result in vicious attacks, which signals to actual trans people to hide, even when they don’t have to.