Claim: Heather Swanson, a transgender cartoon character from the South Park animated series, is comparable to real-life Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.
Fact: There is no connection between the cartoon character and real-life events surrounding Imane Khelif. Some publications called out the show for its transphobic content in 2019 for the episode in which a transgender character makes her debut to compete in the “6th Annual Strong Woman Competition.” Khelif does not identify as a transgender woman.
On 8 August, X user @CollinRugg (archive) posted a clip from an episode of South Park titled, “Board Girls,” showing a transgender character Heather Swanson competing against other woman characters. The South Park clip can be seen side-by-side with a clip of the Olympic boxing match between Italian boxer Angela Carini and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. The caption of the X post reads, “South Park becomes reality after biological male boxer Imane Khelif forces Italian female Angela Carini to quit in 46 seconds at the Olympics.”
The post and video makes a comparison between the cartoon character called Heather Swanson — who transitions to womanhood two weeks before the match and beats every woman competing in the fictional “Strong Woman Competition” — and Imane Khelif who beat Carini within 46 seconds. The post also implies that Khelif is a trans woman like Swanson, who was a biological male before transitioning.
Khelif won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics beating Yang Liu of China in the women’s boxing finals.
Amid the Paris games, she faced increased scrutiny and online harassment regarding her gender identity after Italian boxer Angela Carini quit the boxing match against Khelif in just 46 seconds.
JK Rowling, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump took to social media to fuel the false disinformation campaign against Khelif. A criminal lawsuit against Rowling and Musk was filed in Paris over acts of cyberbullying by Khelif’s lawyer.
This disinformation campaign also led some to jokingly speculate, such as the claim above, that the animated series South Park predicted the outcome of the Olympic boxing match between Khelif and Carini.
“South Park predicts reality again,” Musk chimed in on the controversy.
Despite the often light-hearted tone of these posts, they are spreading harmful and false information about Khelif.
South Park animated series
South Park, an American animated series set in Colorado state created by Tray Parker and Matt Stone, was launched in 1997. The Emmy-winning series is set to launch its 27th season in 2025. The show is based on four school boys Eric Cartman, Stanley Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenneth (Kenny) McCormick.
The show, like the Simpsons, a satirical animated series about American life, is famous for its episodes that seemingly predict the future. However, this is usually coincidental, as Snopes has pointed out after analysing episodes of the Simpsons over the years, and finding, “there have been a few interesting coincidences between jokes on ‘The Simpsons’ and real-world incidents, most of these ‘predictions’ have rather simple and mundane explanations.”
Fact or Fiction?
The post implies that Imane Khelif was raised as a boy like South Park’s Heather Swanson, who transitions to a transgender woman two weeks before the “6th Annual Strong Woman Competition.”
“Now that I have started identifying as a woman. Now that I can compete as a female, I’m ready to smash the other girls,” Swanson says while flexing her muscles in the episode.
However, Khelif never identified as a trans woman. She is cisgender and does not identify as transgender or intersex, according to GLAAD, the LGBTQ media advocacy group.
“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU),” said the International Olympic Committee after the controversy regarding Imane Khelif emerged.
“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes [Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu Tin] competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category…” the statement said.
On 23 March 2023, the IBA disqualified Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, a Taiwanese boxer, from the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The disqualification letter addressed to Khelif says she was disqualified “for not meeting the eligibility criteria of IBA Regulations.”
While the IBA said Khelif never underwent a testosterone test, the results of the unspecified gender eligibility test remain unknown to this day.
The International Olympic Committee called the eligibility test “illegitimate” that was conducted “overnight” and “lacked credibility” at the 2023 World Championships.
Additionally, in June 2023 the IOC voted to bar IBA from the Olympics governing body for defying advice and instructions over reform issues related to governance and finance.
“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” said International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams.
“My child is a girl. She is a strong girl,” Khelif’s father said.
Moreover, a person is not allowed to change their legal gender in Algeria “and the country bans gender-affirming care,” according to VERIFY, Equaldex, and ILGA World Database, making it less likely that Khelif transitioned.
Khelif grew up in a rural village in western Algeria. She initially played and excelled at football, a sport that was not deemed fit for girls. After giving up on the sport, she chose boxing. At the time, her father who was a welder did not approve of boxing as a sport for girls.
Khelif had to travel six miles by bus to the nearest gym for her training. She sold scrap metal for recycling to cover the costs of her travel and “her mother sold couscous.”
She caught the attention of the Algerian boxing federation, making her debut at the 2018 Women’s World Championship where she lost in the first round, standing at 17th. She stood 19th in the 2019 Women’s World Boxing Championships.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Swanson’s character was inspired by Randy Savage, an American wrestler known as the “Macho Man.” This episode aired in 2019 drew criticism at the time for “woke culture satire, somewhat mocking trans athletes.” Many outlets termed the show transphobic.
Virality
The X post garnered 13 million views and was liked 134,000 times.
It was shared on X here, here, and Elon Musk commented on the cartoon controversy here.
On Facebook here, here, here, here, here.
On Instagram here, here, here, here.
Conclusion: South Park’s character Heather Swanson cannot be compared to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, as Khelif is a cisgender woman.
Background image in cover photo: AA
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com