You don’t know what you don’t know — and that’s OK

When I first saw the inflammatory posts about the Algerian Olympian Imane Khelif immediately dispatching an Italian opponent who gave up 46 seconds into their women’s boxing bout — posts that often referred to Khelif as “a man” — my first, knee-jerk reaction was, “Whoa! That’s not fair! You can’t have men punching women in the Olympics!”

As with most knee-jerk reactions that we’re all guilty of — some more so than others — the knee doesn’t quite hit the target. In other words, there’s more to the story.

And that’s OK.

Is it possible that it’s all a ruse? Could she have been born male, and her life story has been some elaborate scheme to sneak into women’s boxing so that she could dominate? Sure, anything’s possible. Of course, as Irish women’s boxer Amy Broadhurst (who has beaten Khelif) points out, Khelif hasn’t exactly been renowned for being superpowerful or unbeatable. Several women have beaten Khelif.

We don’t know for sure, though, if this has indeed been some nefarious scheme all along. And that’s OK.

Many of the folks who have been loudest about how wrong it is for Khelif to be fighting women are the same ones screaming for people to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender they were listed with at birth. For Khelif, that would mean she has to use the women’s bathroom in some right-wing corners of America. Seems that if you’re forced to pee with women, you might need to box with them, too.

Of course, their logic has always been flawed. Because they’re concerned about “perverts,” they want to force a transgender man to follow their little girl into the women’s restroom because they were born female. Yeah, I’m sure some father is going to be just fine with a bearded dude with bulging biceps following his little girl into the women’s restroom.

“Where do you think you’re going, buddy?!!”

“Sorry, they said I had to use this one because of my birth certificate.”

“Oh, well, by all means, enjoy the go!”

It is conservatively estimated that about 1 out of every 5,500 babies born in the world is intersex. That could be chromosomal vagueness or unclear genitalia.

Does this explain this situation? I don’t know, and that’s OK. Is it fair for her to compete in the women’s boxing division or should she be placed into a unique category? I’m not sure, and I’ll leave it to those in the arenas to take their stands. All I know is that I’m a tired middle-aged straight guy who’d probably get his butt whupped by Imane Khelif, Amy Broadhurst, or that Italian boxer. Quite frankly, my 22-month-old granddaughter has put a hurtin’ on me every now and then.

It could be that Khelif is either a person just trying to do her best with the hand she has been dealt or is a total monster. I don’t know, and that’s OK. And if you think you know and think you have it all figured out, I suspect there is a less than 1-in-5,500 chance that you’re correct. And there’s about 5,550 spots between perfectly good and totally evil where the truth of this story lies. The truth is rarely on either extreme.

For instance, folks believe that the Opening Ceremonies controversy with the drag queens was either drawing upon The Last Supper or the Feast of the Gods — one or the other, no space in between. The director lightly denied the former, but it is quite possible that there was an artistic blending of both. I’m just saying: Consider the possibility that the visual spectacle was inspired by both of those paintings. If it were completely the Feast of the Gods, I suspect Paris 2024 officials would have made that clear instead of issuing an apology. Just my opinion. It might be wrong. And that’s OK.

One thing I do know is that we should all be less quick to judge. We all are guilty of rushing to judgment from time to time. Others are guilty of doing it all the time. The journalist in me knows that there is almost always more to the story, even in a world where propagandists promote simple this-or-that thinking.

Another thing I know is that if Imane Khelif is just a good, well-intentioned person who was born a little differently than most folks through no fault of her own and is simply chasing a dream as we are all entitled to do, she must feel quite awful with how the world is treating her right now.

This world has a long history of casting stones at those who are simply different through no fault of their own, and too many of those stones are cast by those who see themselves not only as righteous but also as the judges of righteousness.

And that’s not OK.