Thread by @CrucibleOfThght

Today I'm reading the outrage about the Olympic boxing match between Italian Angela Carini and Algerian Imane Khelif. People are screaming about a "biological male" competing in women's sports. So let's talk about intersexuality, because it's critically relevant here. /1🧵

2/ Here's the thing: Khelif has been a woman her entire life, and barring genetic testing, would never be doubted as a woman had she not so effectively punched a fellow woman in the face in a boxing ring.

3/ From what I read, it sounds like she's intersexed, being diagnosed with the presence of XY chromosomes despite female genitalia. Nobody in her youth doubted her womanhood.

So: Does God make mistakes?

4/ This controversy should cast the intersex phenomenon into stark relief, in this season of trans panic. Khelif is not trans; she's simply one of surprisingly many people with medically ambiguous gender characteristics.

5/ And therein lies the problem for conservatives: BIOLOGY IS NOT BINARY. It never has been, despite what conservatives insist.

6/ When I finally became aware of the intersex phenomenon a few years ago, it was the first crack in my anti-LGBTQ armor, because I realized for the first time that my carefully-curated sense of certainty about male-female-and-nothing-else was scientifically impossible.

7/ So here we have the first very highly-visible case of intersex that I've ever seen, and the right wing is unsurprisingly turning it into trans panic, because in their tiny mental box, they cannot possibly admit that this woman with XY chromosomes might not be trans.

8/ They simply MUST force it into their binary box, or they'd have to admit a flaw in their worldview, and that would be devastating to their theology.

Because: God does NOT make mistakes.

Or so they've said for generations.

9/ But suddenly they have to admit that God made an intersex person, who has XY chromosomes and can take out a boxing opponent in just 46 seconds, yet was legitimately born with a vulva instead of a penis and raised from birth as a woman.

10/ No artificial hormones or surgery were involved in making Khelif the woman she is today.

So... what is a woman?

Suddenly that question takes on more reality than they've ever wanted to admit.

11/ If she was born with a vulva, raised as a woman, and now they're saying she's a "he", they just had to admit that "what is a woman" is in fact a very valid and relevant question, and maybe it has much more complexity than whether someone sits or stands to pee.

12/ And it turns out that the answer isn't a simple matter of biology or genetics, is it?

13/ To wrap this up: intersex is a very complex topic, both scientifically and socially, but it deserves careful attention, and it devastates the simplistic binary conservative arguments about gender and sexuality.

14/ And this is an opportunity to educate people gently but effectively.

If you want to learn more, let me recommend a few resources.

15/ First, my detailed "Cliff Notes" book review of a dissertation by Megan DeFranza, "Intersex and Imago: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Postmodern Theological Anthropology" can be found at
crucibleofthought.com/review-of-inte…

16/ Megan DeFranza went on to develop that dissertation into a full book, "Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God" which is an excellent resource.

17/ Second, I'll point you to my personal reading list, with short book reviews and Amazon links, on the gender and sexuality topic here:
crucibleofthought.com/book-reviews-s…

18/ There are a few really good books on intersex, especially "Intersexion," which puts onto the topic a personal face and a set of personal stories.

19/ Closing thought: educate yourself. Understand intersex, so that you can help educate others. It could provide the first crack in their anti-affirming ramparts. And even if not, they'll finally understand that creation is more diverse than they expected or admitted.

What people want, versus what is. Life is beautifully complex; learn to love the complexity and you'll discover amazing and lovely things hidden in the diversity all around you.