Will County Gazette

Illinois State Senate District 43 candidate Jen Monson addressed the controversy involving Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, stating, "I stand with women and girls in sports." She made the statement in an August 1 Facebook post.

"I stand with women and girls in sports," said jennifer Monson for IL Senate, according to Facebook. "They deserve to compete on an equal playing field with other females. Biological men have no business in women's sports. Where is their shame?"

In her Facebook post, Monson shared a link to a Fox News Facebook post. That post included a caption quoting influencer and professional wrestler Logan Paul. "This is the purest form of evil unfolding right before your eyes. A man was allowed to beat up a woman on a global stage, crushing her life’s dream while fighting for her deceased father," Paul said.

Screenshot of Jen Monson's Aug. 1 Facebook post | JenMonson4ILSenate43 Facebook page

The boxer Monson and Paul are referring to is Imane Khelif of Algeria. According to an AOL article, Khelif was competing against Italian boxer Angela Carini, who quit after taking several blows to the face. "A punch hurt too much, and so I said enough," Carini told reporters.

The article states that Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting allegedly failed the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) Gender Eligibility testing, which has led to controversy. The IBA president Umar Kremlev said of the two women, "it was proven that they have XI chromosomes." The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not consider those tests from the IBA as part of its eligibility assessments, and the IBA is not the governing body of Olympic boxing.

Although Khelif has competed as a woman, she was disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the IBA for failing to meet eligibility rules, according to a National Public Radio (NPR) report. Khelif is 25 years old and stands at 5’10". She had a 9-5 professional record at the start of the Olympics. She lost in the Tokyo Games in 2021 and in the quarterfinal round to Kellie Harrington of Ireland. She won the African and Mediterranean Championships in 2022 and took home silver at the IBA Women’s World Championships in 2022. In 2023, she reached the finals of the world championships in New Delhi but was disqualified by organizers.

NPR notes that medical conditions can cause women to have XY chromosomes, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Jen Monson is the Republican nominee for Illinois State Senate District 43. She ran an uncontested race in the primary election. According to her campaign website, she is an educator and school board member who wants to "work to maintain citizen rights and their ability to exercise their God-given rights to exist and live freely without unconstitutional government overreach."