Textbook double standards are at play in the criticisms hurled at Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, revealing a bigger pattern of selective outrage

It seems the Olympics haven’t been spared from enraged spectators clutching pearls over a number of non-issues.

From the opening ceremony all the way to the games, it seems some segments of society have raised alarm over things like alleged blasphemy (the Olympic Committee apologized for offending some Christians while clarifying the show did not depict anything related to Christianity) and “attacks on women’s sports” with the recent reactions of netizens to Italian boxer Angela Carini’s pulling out of her Aug. 1 match with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.

“Facts don’t care about feelings,” is a pithy phrase mostly bandied about by people who identify with socially conservative stances. “Oh? You identify as a woman? Facts don’t care about feelings,” they say. But what happens when the script gets flipped?

Interestingly, whenever the feelings of some conservatives are contradicted by facts, they don’t seem to change their minds. In this case, the fact is that Khelif is a woman as evidence suggests she doesn’t have the medical conditions arbitrarily slapped onto her.

Interestingly, whenever the feelings of some conservatives are contradicted by facts, they don’t seem to change their minds

In an Aug. 5 interview with the Associated Press, Khelif, also a UNICEF ambassador, maintains her poise: “I don’t care about anyone’s opinion. I came here for a medal, and to compete for a medal. I will certainly be competing to improve.”

In either case, it seems that some have only doubled down despite the emergence of more facts, bent as they are on using anything to justify their disdain towards some people.

Now, it’s dangerous to lump everyone critical of progressive causes together with actual bigots: Some critics come from within progressive circles and are calling attention to blind spots, part and parcel of the necessary discourse needed to reach policy-shaping consensus.

But this is not the case here. If we’re going to proceed with good faith discussions with the aim of shaping policy, we first have to address bad faith rhetoric aimed at spreading hate.

Presently, the participation of transgender athletes remains a contentious issue even among progressives. There are many factors to consider, but the good faith goals are the same: to allow people the right to participate in sports as the gender they identify with all while giving equal and safe opportunities to all athletes, especially in combat sports.

But this was another non-issue in the first place. Khelif is, for all intents and purposes, female at birth. No clear evidence suggests she has the “masculinizing” medical condition or Y chromosome she’s suspected of. The governing body that banned her from some matches in the past has itself been banned for ethical and transparency issues.

And her first elite-level record (five losses in six matches) shoots down any suggestion that her appearance gives her any competitive advantage over her opponents. No one raised an eyebrow during her 2021 Tokyo Olympics bout either.

In an Aug. 5 interview with the Associated Press, Imane Khelif, also a UNICEF ambassador, maintains her poise: “I don’t care about anyone’s opinion. I came here for a medal, and to compete for a medal. I will certainly be competing to improve”

All this noise seems to make the silence surrounding actual issues deafening. Again, facts have surfaced that another Olympian, Steven Van De Velde, was convicted of raping a 12-year old girl, yet was allowed to participate in Paris 2024.

Where are the moral crusaders now who appeared in endless mobs to attack Khelif? Why does De Velde’s issue only get hundreds of shares versus the thousands of continuing attacks against Khelif (and by extension, women and the LGBTQIA+ community). Many love to boast about protecting the innocent yet end up sparing the guilty (often white cis men).

Many were quick to condemn a drag queen’s expression of her faith yet are silent when a pastor convicted of child abuse runs away from the law. Didn’t people also say they wanted to protect children from “pedos” and “perverts?”

Western psychology OG Carl Jung wrote, “When many people gather together to share one common emotion, the total psyche emerging from the group is below the level of the individual psyche.”

I remember a long, one-on-one discussion with a high school friend about climate change. At first, he was denying everything scientists had established over decades about man-influenced global warming. I persisted, not by arguing, but by letting him speak and allowing him to air his points.

Eventually, he admitted that his beliefs were senseless in the face of actual evidence, that he was largely influenced by a macho workspace owned by an airline mogul. We shook hands and when I went home, I realized that we tend to operate more on feeling than on fact, and that when we calm down, we may be more open to shaping our thoughts based on facts.

As soon as I opened my phone to scroll, there he was again, sharing memes bashing climate activists like Greta Thunberg. It seems the group psyche overpowered his individual capacities yet again.

Thankfully, hope isn’t lost, as this viral apology post shows.