Martina Navratilova may be an out and proud tennis legend with a long history of human rights advocacy, but she can still go out of bounds on social media.
Take the 18-time Grand Slam champ’s recent take on trans athletes, which she tweeted on December 19:
“You can’t just proclaim yourself a female and be able to compete against women. There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard…”
Related: Drag queen screenshots infamous gay Trump supporter’s transphobia before he could delete it
The backlash came fast and furious. “Welp, guess Navratilova is transphobic,” tweeted trans world champion cyclist Dr. Rachel McKinnon.
How about we take this to the next level?
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“People: genitals are IRRELEVANT to sports performance,” McKinnon added. “Totally irrelevant. The difference between a trans woman (especially on testosterone blockers) with a penis…and a trans woman without a penis is NOTHING. So focusing on the genitals IS transphobic … Also, no sport involves the genitals. You don’t hit a tennis ball with your penis or vagina. If you do, you’re doing it wrong. (Hey, who am I to judge!) The focus on the penis, in that penis = male = performance advantage is sexist and transphobic/transmisogynistic.”
Navratilova later deleted her post and apologized to some users, including one who cited research showing trans female runners have no advantage over their cisgender peers.
I am sorry if I said anything anywhere near transphobic- certainly I meant no harm – I will educate myself better on this issue but meantime I will be quiet about it. Thank you
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) December 21, 2018
As Outsports points out, multiple sports governing bodies have made policies to be inclusive of trans athletes. The NCAA welcomed trans athletes under certain conditions in 2011, for example, and the International Olympic Committee adopted a similar stance in 2016.
Related: Armie Hammer tracks down transphobic audience member: ‘Never come back’
For her part, McKinnon also addressed transphobia in the sports world in an interview with VeloNews this October:
“People who oppose transgender inclusion in sport put us in the double bind. It’s the ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ scenario. If I win, they attribute it to me being trans and having an unfair advantage. If I lose, the same people think I must not be good anyway. People will never attribute my winning to hard work which is what I think I deserve.”
iamru2
That’s not transphobia jeesh!
Scout
Totally agree! Just because you don’t agree with a progressive stance doesn’t make you phobic! Phobia refers to a fear of something, not a difference of opinion.
Dymension
Unfortunately, this is the world in which we live. If you are not in agreement with something, you must be totally against it. There is little nuance in people’s views these days.
OzJosh
Actually, almost everyone I know has a nuanced view when it comes to these issues. It’s the media – take a bow, Queerty – who peddles moronic black-and-white stances in order to fuel outrage and get hits.
mr guy
One sided propaganda from Outsports and Queerty. McKinnon Is a horrible bully and narcissistic creep and the way this actually played out is a lot less flattering to McKinnon then this article paints it. #StandWithMartina
Pete le meat
Martina has been a pioneer. She is not transphobic. Didn’t she date Dr Renae Richards all those years ago?
Martina makes an important point. You just can’t call yourself whatever you like and expect everyone else to go along with it.
The only slightly anti-Martina thing I will say is that, as a female, she has benefited from society’s more tolerant approach to female homosexuality as opposed to male homosexuality.
peterskilt
Despite what some in the trans community say there are biological differences that aren’t immediately erased or changed at all just because someone’s gender identity does.
The muscle development among other things is very different between the two. This is something that needs to be thought through in a respectful manner. Obviously in some sports it’s irrelevant, but there are plenty of sports where differences in biological sex are differentiators.
sfhally
My, what a nicely slanted article–you left out the part where Martina tried to apologize and that McKinnon person continued to harass her. Look at the photos of these trans athletes and keep denying that there are serious problems. –
Interesting how the trans athletes say that testosterone blockers mean there’s no difference but insist that testosterone testing is transphobic.
Donston
Her language was definitely insensitive. However, feeling as if trans people shouldn’t compete against cis people in professional sports is not in and of itself trans-phobic.
HereIAm
When are we going to decide to cut transgenders entirely from the gay community? Their agendas clearly do not align with those of the gays and they are increasingly become a political albatross. Dump them and let them fight for their own cause.
inbama
That ship has sailed.
Surrender, Dorothy!
GetOffMyInternets
@HereIAm hmmm sounds like you’re the type of asswipe that didn’t study exactly what went down the night of Stonewall, much less the drag queens, street queens, and trans people in various states of transitioning who fought that night. Obviously, you don’t know jack shit about gay history at all, trick baby!
Polaro
Certainly worth having a rational discussion over.
HenryCameron
I think they’ve actually already cut us from the movement, or haven’t you noticed that “cis” is now regularly used as a pejorative term. From what I read online and see in photos from events, as a cis male and white to boot, no matter how gay I am, I am apparently considered as much an enemy as any straight person. So, so much for all that community and inclusiveness.
Goforit
Taking Martina’s history into account, I am willing to cut her some slack. Her apology if not overly heartfelt, was at least sincere and intelligent. I take her at her word. As for the rest of the commenters on this article, I suspect that the Trans community will have to wait a very long time for you to educate yourselves to understand just how ignorant you are being and issue your own apology. Is that Hell I hear freezing over? HereIAm, You do realize that no one on this site is falling for your bats**t crazy Russian bot, over the top bible-thumping hatred. Such a waste of time and energy.
TheMarc
Exactly how are the comments on this article truly disrespectful or ignorant? Please explain how Martina’s comment, though perhaps insensitive, is incorrect or scientifically flawed. Perhaps that’s really where the debate should start.
There is no question that one should be for trans equality and certainly, if not full-scale endorsement/acceptance, at least respect for trans persons in various aspects of society. But I too have to question fairness in competition as it relates to gender divided sports.
iminheatlikeacat
Grow up. Just because someone (the majority, actually) disagrees with your opinion makes them a Russian bot.
niles
The trans agenda is increasingly anti-gay.
iminheatlikeacat
FGS can you PLEASE read the comments you get on articles like these? No, this is not transphobia, no, your readers don’t agree with your stance on this and TBH it’s gettig increasingly obvious by the day that the aggressive trans movement is homophobic.
Calin
@HereIAm, based on your posts you live such a negative life. You need a hug, I’ll give you a hug!
reddys
I am not educated enough on the effects of testosterone blockers or other factors that may come into account in this debate however what I think is insensitive and transphobic in her tweet is the perpetuation of the idea that transgenders decide to “proclaim” themselves a certain gender. Even though it may just be an insensitive choice of words in her case (I don’t know that she really is or is not transphobic) this is the type of publicity that feeds the beliefs of ignorants who think being gay or transgender is a lifestyle choice. Being gay and having to deal with coming to terms with my sexuality took me 30 years and I can’t imagine how much even harder it must be to come to terms with being born the wrong gender. Anyone who – like Martina – is part of the LGBTQ community should at least be sensitive to never imply any part of what constitutes this community is a choice.
HereIAm
You are exactly the sort of snowflakes I loathe. Everything we say has to comply with the “polite rules” the transgenders demand. The transgenders have their own battles they need to fight for themselves but that certainly doesn’t mean that gays have to be part of it. I think Martina said exactly what she needed to say. If you don’t like it, fine, but know that the universe doesn’t revolve around the transgenders.
reddys
This isn’t about being polite – this is simply not being ignorant. Do you believe transgenders wake up one day and decide to proclaim themselves a different gender?
Show a little bit of compassion even if transgender rights isn’t your fight. Gay rights have progressed because millions of non-gays showed compassion and understanding for something that technically had nothing to do with them – not just because gays were uniting in fighting for their rights. As someone who is seeing positive change in your rights I don’t think it’s just the “polite” thing to do to support that other minorities’ rights also evolve. It’s the logically and decent thing to do.
iminheatlikeacat
If someone is gay, they are attracted to their own sex
If someone is trans, they believe they are the opposite sex.
One is based on a fact and the other is based on a belief.
I Have no problem with trans women or trans men, but I see them as that. Nothing wrong with it, not lower or second class citizens but when statements are made like “Trans women ARE women” and “SOME women have penises”, you’re asking me to suspend my disbelief that people can change sex because they simply say they can.
Then, you’ve got people like Philip Bunce, winning accolades for business woman of the year because he chooses to dress like a woman 3 or 4 days out of the week. He’s not a woman, he’s a man who likes dressing in women’s clothes sometimes. Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but do not call me transphobic for not swallowing the lie that men can turn into women and women can turn into men. It is IMPOSSIBLE.
Really don’t understand why in the last few years basic biology has become transphobic.
JessPH
Martina spoke the truth and the truth does not care about anyone’s feeling.
David
Honestly I’ve seen so much transphobia from lesbians it’s not even funny. (Obviously I’ve also seen a lot of lesbians who are totally cool.) Common feminist narratives often paint women as somehow inherently more loving/accepting/woke/etc and that’s BS. I once worked at a Church under a lesbian minister who practically bragged about back in the 80s when she fought against queer inclusion in the denomination because she felt it was important to represented the “rural perspective”. (I was like, wow so you sold out people like you to get ahead, koodos. Women really can do anything men can do!)
She also pushed back against me when I said we should put some sort of affirming statement on the church website. Her rational was basically, “Trans people are a PITA to deal with and I don’t want the drama.”
Frankly the anti-masculinity bs that is getting paraded around as feminism these days basically conditions people to act like TERFs with massive cognitive dissonance. It forces trans people to have to try and live as somebody with a nuanced gender, in a world where one gender is talked about as if it’s inherently good and the other inherently bad. Which is not fair to them (or anyone who lives in either one of those genders.)
jsmu
@HereIAm Get your worthless BITCH ASS back to Irkutsk, where it belongs, impotent Russkytroll.
Polaro
They actually do not align And are not the same. Facts matter. As far as deciding how to move forward, this discussion was never held.
judysdad
Well, Martina spoke the truth. But truth is not valued in today’s America.
Polaro
Martina is right. Trans women have an unfair advantage in physical competitions. All the bullying can’t change this fact. Arguing so diminishes our credibility.