‘South Park’s Most Transphobic Episode Is in the News Again

The 2024 Paris Olympics are in full swing, which means that there are plenty of Olympic controversies. So far, they have included spy drones, Blue Man Group-esque Greek gods and an aquatic venue that’s contaminated with raw sewage/bloated Minion corpses. 

Well, now there’s a pretty major debate concerning women’s boxing. A recent fight between Italian boxer Angela Carini and Algerian contender Imane Khelif ended after just 46 seconds, with the victory going to Khelif, one of two boxers at the Olympics who “failed to meet gender eligibility tests at the Women’s World Boxing Championships” in 2023.

Now the bout is being criticized by everyone from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to Donald Trump, to J.K. “I missed the point of my own stories” Rowling.

It should be noted that Khelif is not a male, and is not a trans woman, yet her win has sparked a major transphobic backlash across the internet. 

It’s true that she was disqualified from competing in the gold medal bout in last year’s championships, but the International Boxing Association (IBA) has provided basically no details explaining the situation, recently acknowledging that “the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential.”

And, regardless, the IBA is “no longer recognized” by the International Olympic Committee, who found that Khelif complied with all of their requirements necessary to compete. 

Still, this story has inspired a lot of people to share clips from one of the worst South Park episodes ever made, claiming that the show predicted this turn of events.  

“Board Girls” from Season 23 found a “trans athlete” named “Heather Swanson,” who bizarrely looked and sounded just like the late Macho Man Randy Savage, entering a Strongwoman competition seemingly just to get back at an ex-girlfriend. Critics blasted the episode as wildly transphobic, perpetuating the “oldest trans trope” that “trans women are just men in disguise up to no good.” The show had certainly expressed transphobic sentiments before, so it’s viewpoint wasn’t wholly surprising. But it was clearly an attempt to comment on the pressing issue of trans competition in pro sports, yet still fell completely flat on its face. 

Transgender world track cycling champion Rachel McKinnon also pointed out that the episode was just flat-out lazy, and had essentially ripped off an old, also lousy, Futurama episode.

The false premise of this episode is an “actively harmful” one, suggesting that the trans community, one of the most marginalized, vulnerable groups in the country, are really fraudsters whose cons result in violence against cisgender women. 

Now, clearly a lot of people think that this episode’s garbage take has been validated by this year’s Olympics, despite the fact that the two scenarios couldn’t be more different.

Recent South Park specials like The End of Obesity are a reminder that the show can, occasionally, provide nuanced, well-informed commentary on current events. “Board Girls,” however, didn’t read as well researched, meaningfully considered or really anything other than a panicky Fox News segment brought to life.