Ed. — Archived from the Sunday, Aug. 11, print edition.
BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE
BACK BAY — The Republican Party of Virginia Beach on Tuesday, Aug, 6, published a social media post related to the Olympics that is offensive and false.
The post on Facebook inaccurately stated, “Man advances to gold medal match in women’s boxing.”
The statement, which shared an article, noted that Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer who has been at the center of a largely speculative political and media storm, did not pass a “gender test” in the past “but seems okay with the Olympic Committee” and was advancing to the gold medal round.
The match was scheduled for Friday, Aug. 9, the day after this edition of The Independent News went to press, but Khelif was guaranteed a medal.
Khelif is neither a man nor transgender, though some have portrayed her as such in unfortunate statements, likely to either reinforce or rile up prejudices. Notably and appallingly, such false statements tend to be made about women of color.
Since accurate information about Khelif is readily available, the city GOP speculatively misgendered someone for a vague political purpose. What exactly is the point, gang? Where’s the win for Virginia Beach in misgendering an Algerian woman?
Questions have been raised about a test Khelif didn’t pass in 2023, which was administered by the Russia-tied International Boxing Association with methodology that hasn’t been described in any detail – and, importantly, has been rejected by the overseers of the Olympics, who don’t get on with the IBA for reasons any critical thinkers out there can look up for themself.
Referring to Khelif and another boxer from Taiwan who also was disqualified by the IBA but qualified for the Olympics, International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams told Sky Sports News, “These women were born as girls. They are registered as female. They have female passports. They have competed for the last six or seven years in senior competitions. They’ve won bouts and they’ve lost bouts as women.”
Further, NPR and other outlets have noted that the disqualification of Khelif in 2023 came after she defeated a Russian boxer, and the IOC has called the IBA’s testing illegitimate.
There’s a lot more on the complexities of this from credible news sources, but let’s get back to the city GOP posting an untruth for whatever reason such things get posted in an election year instead of, say, celebrating our own local Olympians doing awesome stuff.
Actually, the boxer at that center of the storm made the point about why spewing speculative falsehoods causes harm.
“It can destroy people,” she said, asking people not to bully others, as reported by The Associated Press. “It can kill people’s thoughts, mind and spirit, and it can divide people.”
Khelif says it best herself.
Political season is underway.
The Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations is scheduled to host a forum for candidates for mayor of Virginia Beach at 6 p.m., Monday, Sept. 23, in the auditorium at Kellam High School, 2665 West Neck Road. It will be moderated with some questions prepared in advance and others from attendees at the door, according to the group. Information about the event and registration is online via vbcco.org.
As this edition went to press on Thursday, Aug. 8, the Hampton Roads Black Caucus was scheduled to host a forum featuring candidates for mayor and sheriff on Friday, Aug. 9, but the organization plans to host an additional forum coming up so the public can hear from other local candidates.
The organization is working to host a forum open to all filed Virginia Beach City Council and Virginia Beach School Board candidates, and it will share information on that event soon. Learn more and get updates by following the caucus on Facebook. I’ll try to share that information on our social media accounts, too, when it is confirmed.
And our annual voter guide edition is scheduled to be published on Sunday, Sept. 22. I plan to deliver it to spots throughout the city, even outside our normal circulation area. Please reach me via (757) 502-5393 or jhd@princessanneindy.com if your group or business wants to distribute copies.
My friend Charles Apple, an internationally recognized graphic guru, has since 2019 served as a design editor at The Spokesman-Review, where he has become known for his “Further Review” pages. They marry images and words on topics as diverse as news, history, politics and popular culture. They’re always informative and often very fun looks at specific topics.
I’m thrilled to tell you his nationally distributed infographics have been collected in a new book, Further Review: The Stories Behind the History You Thought You Knew, which is now available for preorder sales through Pediment Publishing online via apple.pictorialbook.com.
The hard cover book is scheduled to ship in mid-November, according to the publisher.
Apple, a former Hampton Roads resident and my former colleague at The Virginian-Pilot, has been incredibly kind to our little newspaper over the years. He created the local voting maps we use to illustrate stories about City Council and School Board districts and several information graphics that have helped us make some degree of sense of the voting system changes here in Virginia Beach as they happened.
A newspaper of our size simply could not afford the sort of work Apple has done for us over the years, sometimes at the drop of a hat. It’s a huge gift of his talent and time. I’m grateful.
Please check out his book, and thanks for reading.
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