After a video went viral of a biologically male boxer’s vicious takedown of a female competitor in Olympic women’s boxing, Republican candidate for governor Chuck Morse’s campaign stepped up.
“As a father whose daughter was active in sports throughout her academic career, I firmly believe that men do not belong in women’s sports or their locker rooms,” Morse said in a statement about the incident. “As governor, I will ensure this common-sense principle becomes a reality in New Hampshire.”
And Morse’s campaign is touting a New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women event on Saturday with former NCAA champion swimmer Riley Gaines. Gaines has emerged as a leader in the movement to protect women’s sports from male competitors, a movement that’s growing in support — as evidenced by the reaction to the Olympics fight.
In Paris, Italy’s Angela Carini made it just 46 seconds into her match against Imane Khelif of Algeria before being forced to withdraw by single blow to the face that, according to some reports, broke her nose.
“I’m used to suffering. I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue,” Carini said after the match, adding, “It isn’t fair.”
Khelif is one of two boxers who had previously been banned from women’s boxing because of their gender status, but who are being allowed to compete in the Olympics. Khelif isn’t transgender but was excluded from the 2023 International Boxing Association world championships because testing revealed that they possessed X and Y chromosomes.
The reaction on social media was immediate, and passionate.
“Watch this, then explain why you’re OK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment,” author J.K. Rowling posted on X. “This isn’t sport. From the bullying cheat in red all the way up to the organizers who allowed this to happen, this is men reveling in their power over women.”
“What will it take to end this insanity? A female boxer left with life-altering injuries? A female boxer killed?” Rowling added.
And it’s not just dramatic incidents like the scene of Carini on the canvas crying after forfeiting her match. When U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky dominated the women’s 1,500 meter freestyle, she did so by setting an Olympic record. But her time was nearly a full minute slower than the men’s record. Supporters of women’s athletics say it’s simply unrealistic to overlook biology.
Polls show Americans, and Granite Staters, overwhelmingly agree. An NHJournal poll in May 2024 found nearly 60 percent of Granite Staters support girls-only sports teams, while just 18 percent back the position of Democratic legislators that biological males should be allowed to compete on girls’ teams.
In New Hampshire, Democrats have made the issue of biological sex vs. self-declared gender a partisan issue. They voted unanimously against a bill banning males from girls’ sports in grades 5-12. When Gov. Chris Sununu signed the legislation, making New Hampshire the 25th state to enact a girls-only sports law, Democrats reacted with fury.
Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, a Democratic candidate for governor, accused Sununu of joining “radical Republicans” who are “trying to villainize trans kids.”
Warmington’s main competitor, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, also opposes the new law. Asked by WMUR’s Adam Sexton about the advantage biological males have competing as girls, she said this was the “fair policy.”
The challenge for Democrats is that voters are moving in the opposite direction on this issue, in part due to high-profile cases like the Olympic boxing match in which the disparity between the athletes is obvious. According to Gallup, support for keeping girls sports exclusive based on biological sex (as opposed to self-declared gender status) has swung a net 15 points in two years, with 69 percent of Americans siding with supporters of girls-only sports.
Granite State Republicans can read the polls, and they intend to make Democrats pay at the ballot box in November.
“Every single New Hampshire House Democrat voted in support of allowing men in women’s sports like we saw in Olympic boxing,” said Ross Berry, vice chair of the Committee to Elect House Republicans. “We will be reminding voters that if it were up to House Democrats, what they saw on TV would be unfolding every day at their local K-12 school.”
In the Second Congressional District GOP primary, former state Rep. Casey Crane has made this a key issue in her campaign. She arranged for Gaines to do a video conference in support of the New Hampshire girls’ sports bill.
“This is a common-sense issue, not a partisan one,” Crane told NHJournal. “Democrats, independents, Republicans, they call care about girls’ rights of privacy, their right not to be fearful.”
