"Transphobia, misogyny, and good old plain racism" - Dwyane Wade's wife Gabrielle Union weighs in on Imane Khelif-Angela Carini drama

Dwyane Wade's wife, Gabrielle Union, was one of many famous personalities who gave their take on the recent Imane Khelif-Angela Carini controversy. It all stemmed from Khelif's lopsided victory over Carini in the Round of 16 of the women's 66 kg boxing tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Union defended Khelif from all the criticisms about her gender. Many accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of allowing a "transgender woman" to compete against women, although the Algerian boxer is a woman.

"Transphobia, misogyny and good old plain racism. For many athletes, not fitting into arbitrary gender norms creates this whirling dervish of bigotry, harassment and abuse," Union tweeted.

Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union and his entire family are LGBTQ allies, and their daughter Zaya Wade came out as trans a few years ago. They have been very supportive of Zaya and even left Florida to move to California due to the state's anti-LGBTQ laws.

While Imane Khelif doesn't identify as a transgender woman, many people on the internet jumped the gun and accused her of being a man. It all stemmed from Angela Carini's loss in the Round of 16 when she quit after getting hit with a hard punch straight to the face.

Khelif's controversial inclusion in the Olympics came after being disqualified from last year's women's World Championships, as per The Independent. An executive of the International Boxing Association (IBA) claimed she had male XY chromosomes, which has been refuted by the IOC.

The IOC stopped recognizing the IBA last year due to corruption and finance issues. As such, Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another female boxer facing the same XY chromosome accusations, were allowed to compete in Paris.

Khelif being from Algeria, a country with anti-LGBTQ laws, is also a matter that a lot of people fail to recognize. But that's an entirely different issue for another time.

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Imane Khelif's next opponent unfazed

Imane Khelif's next opponent unfazed. (Photo: GETTY)

Imane Khelif will face Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori in the quarterfinals of the women's 66 kg boxing tournament. Hamori is not fazed by Khelif or all the controversy surrounding her.

"We didn't spar or fight before. I don't care about the stories or what is going on on social media right now, I just want to stay focused on myself.

"I came here to get a medal from the Olympic Games. I don't care about anything. I will go to the ring and I will get my win. I trust my coaches and I trust myself. I'm not scared. Like I said, I don't care about the story and social media," Hamori said. [H/T Reuters]

Khelif has an amateur record of 42 wins and nine losses, and only six of those wins were via knockout. She's a silver medalist in the light welterweight division at the 2022 Boxing World Championships in Istanbul.