In her continuing struggle to stay relevant after achieving some prominence as a COVID misinformer, fringe-right doctor Jane Orient latched onto transphobia earlier this summer. She took a similar tack, based around right-wing outrage around the Olympics in her Aug. 13 WorldNetDaily column. First up was a lot of uninformed speculation about a female boxer:
The recent Olympic Games were a “huge moment for queer and drag representation,” according to Out magazine. The event had “queens everywhere.” The spotlight was on the “historic number of ‘out’ gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer and nonbinary athletes.”
Like the latest U.S. Supreme Court justice, Thomas Bach, chairman of the International Olympics Committee (IOC), is uncertain about what a woman is. In response to the controversy about Algerian boxer Imane Khalif he said, “There is no scientific way to determine whether someone is male or female.” Bach said this was the “first ever Olympic Games with full gender parity.”
Reproductive endocrinology is very complex. it deals with rare pathologies such as disorders of sexual development (DSDs), called “intersex” in the past. In those rare and obscure conditions, a person can have characteristics of both sexes, with complex permutations, and there could be a discrepancy between that person’s sex chromosomes and external appearance. For example, in Swyer syndrome (XY gonadal dysgenesis), a person has XY (male) chromosomes but functional female genitalia.
Khalif is not “trans,” but allegedly has XY chromosomes, although externally appearing female with some distinct male features. This type of rare appearance, observed since ancient times, is known as “androgyny.” Sex is binary, and one sex cannot be changed into the other, but binary sex can be affected by a wide range of pathologies, which are not understood by the public or even by medical professionals without subspecialty training.
The overall picture suggests that Khalif may have a rare DSD. Such “intersex” persons might have significant advantages over women athletes, though not as great as a normal male would have.
[…]It is weird to advocate for persons with some male attributes, say an enormous disparity in punch strength, to beat up women for money or entertainment.
Orient, of course, has no solid evidence to back up any of this — that’s why she uses vague terms like “allegedly” and “may have,” then dehumanizes Khelif (whose name Orient misspells) by portraying her as suffering from “pathologies.”
Orient then joined in the WND meltdown over the opening ceremonies:
The opening ceremonies at the Olympics were a perfect example of weird, particularly the parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s great painting “The Last Supper.” This featured drag queens, dancers, a child, and an obese tattooed woman, who we later learned is a lesbian DJ and fat-acceptance activist, in the central position. The Greek god of celebration, Dionysus, arrives on the table, painted blue, and nude except for some strategically positioned flowers.
Artistic Director Thomas Jolly declared that “The Last Supper” was not the inspiration – even though it certainly looked like it to millions of people who were familiar with da Vinci’s painting. It was meant to be a celebration of “diversity” and “love,” he said. In response to torrents of outrage, the organizers apologized.
[…]And what about the reactions of most decent human beings, regardless of religious affiliation? The scene was chaotic, lewd, depraved, perverted, immoral and ugly. A civilized society might permit such a performance in an adults-only bar, but not on a public stage with millions of children watching.
The portrayal of Dionysus was supposed to show “the absurdity of violence between human beings.” A later skit featured a gory beheaded Queen Marie Antoinette – weird.
It is weird to turn what used to be an elite athletic competition into a Bacchanalia, an affront to Western traditions, and a showcase and promotion for LGBTQ ideology.
Orient is not going to admit that her homophobia and transphobia is an “ideology.”