"Y'all are weird": HasanAbi slams online transphobic rhetoric amid controversy surrounding Olympic boxer Imane Khelif
Twitch streamer and political commentator HasanAbi has slammed online transphobia in a post on X amid the controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. For context, Imane Khelif has been subject to transphobic comments online after Italian boxer Angela Carini forfeited the pair's match at the 2024 Paris Olympics mid-fight.
Khelif, who has always competed as a woman, failed to meet gender eligibility tests at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi in 2023. It should be noted that there is no evidence that she is transgender or intersex.
Various controversial streamers and online figures, such as Sneako and Andrew Tate, have called out the Olympics after reports claiming Imane Khelif has DSD (Differences of Sexual Developement) went viral following her fight with Angela Carini.
Note: The International Olympic Committee has put out a statement defending Imane Khelif's right to participate as a female.
HasanAbi has blasted the transphobic rhetoric surrounding the controversy in a post on X, claiming it harms both trans and cis women.
"Transphobia is a legitimate brain disease that eventually causes people to suspect EVERYONE of being trans. we are watching that happen in real time on a website run by a transphobic dead beat dad freak. this harms trans women AND ciswomen. yall are WEIRD AS F**K", wrote the Twitch streamer
"Their 'feelings' that this person is trans is more important than the 'facts'": HasanAbi on the Imane Khelif boxing controversy at the Olympics
Before calling out online transphobia on X, HasanAbi had reacted to a post about Donald Trump's statement on Truth Social, where the former US President said he would keep men out of women's sports.
HasanAbi described the video as brain rot, claiming that people have been parroting points that are not based on facts.
"We have officially reached terminal velocity brainrot, where everyone can simply keep repeating something objectively untrue and it doesn't matter. there will be no corrections, no apologies. their "feelings" that this person is trans is more important than the 'facts'," the streamer said.
The International Olympic Committee has since put out a statement condemning the attacks on Imane Khelif while defending her participation in the tournament despite claims that she has XY chromosomes.
A number of transphobic incidents have been reported in the streaming space in the last couple of years. Recently, a popular streamer named Nickmercs was banned from Twitch for using a slur against the transgender community on stream. He would later claim that he did not know the term he used was offensive.