Former Irish leader defends Olympic boxer from gender controversy

Well, well, well. Now Ireland’s former Taoiseach has swooped in to defend the Olympian at the center of a gender row. Leo Varadkar made a gushing Instagram post in support of gold medalist Imane Khelif, accompanied by some rather odd graphics. The ex-Irish prime minister reposted a screenshot from the “@fitnessgayz” account, with the words “Get em girl!!” emblazoned across the image in bright pink. The former Fine Gael leader then launched into an impassioned defense of Khelif — who has faced backlash for competing in the women’s boxing after previously failing gender eligibility tests — and even suggested he would make a donation to her cyberbullying lawsuit against J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk.

“Fair play to Imane Khelif,” Varadkar declared on the photo-messaging app. “I hope she has financial support for her lawsuit. I’d be happy to make a donation.” The ex-Taoiseach’s tirade continued:

She was born a girl, almost certainly assigned that gender by the doctor or midwife based on her physical characteristics. She was raised as a woman by her family and is accepted as such by her community. Even if she wanted to identify as a transman or intersex (which she doesn’t) that’s not an option for her in a conservative, religious, traditional country like Algeria. This is the world they want us all to live in and still they attacked her. Bunch of bullies looking for a soft target.

It hasn’t received the response Varadkar might have hoped for. One user fumed: “Do you have no regard for women’s safety and fairness in sport? Shame on you.” Another reprimanded the former prime minister: “People don’t ‘identify’ as ‘intersex.’” A third commenter quizzed the politician: “Where is this energy coming from? Why weren’t you this excited when you ran the country?” Ouch.

The ex-Taoiseach’s intervention follows the news that Khelif has filed a lawsuit over alleged cyberbullying during the Paris 2024 Olympics. After it emerged that the Algerian boxer had previously failed sex tests and was disqualified from last year’s World Championships by the International Boxing Association, there was uproar about Khelif’s participation in the women’s boxing. The fallout worsened after Italian boxer Angela Carini pulled out of her match against the Algerian just forty-six seconds in. J.K. Rowling and Twitter CEO Musk were quick to take to Twitter to blast the International Olympic Committee’s decision to let Khelif compete — and the Algerian boxer’s attorney has suggested the duo are “named in the lawsuit, among others.” It seems the issue that clouded this year’s Olympics is very much not over yet. Stay tuned…

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.