Wimbledon champ Martina Navratilova doubles down on fight for gender-based sports

Former Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova affirms her opposition to transgender women in women’s sports, on the eve of this year’s championships.

Martina Navratilova, who came out as gay 43 years ago, said she had been 'jettisoned' by some in the LGBT community over her opinions but would continue to speak her mind. Picture: Getty Images

Martina Navratilova, the record nine-time Wimbledon champion, has reiterated that she will keep fighting for sex-based sports.

The Czech-American, 67, speaking yesterday (Sunday) on the eve of the tournament, has repeated her views that including transgender women in women’s sports excludes women.

Navratilova, who came out as gay in 1981, said she had been “jettisoned” by some in the LGBT community for her views but would speak her mind.

“It’s been pretty rough but I know I’m on the right side of history. I’m right on most people’s opinion about women’s sex-based spaces, and especially sports. They need to stay female,” she said.

“The politics have been kind of crazy about that. It’s become very political when it shouldn’t be when it comes to women’s rights. We seem to put trans rights ahead of women’s rights, particularly for males that identify as women.

“Women are asked to be kind and be inclusive, yet by including transgender-identified males in women’s sports, you’re excluding women,” she said.

Despite the “rough” response from some quarters, Navratilova said she had felt “very loved by the [LGBT] community” when she attended a drag queen show in Miami a couple of months ago.

The International Tennis Federation, the sport’s governing body, states in its policy that “a male-to-female transgender player” must satisfy two requirements to be eligible to participate in female categories.

A transgender woman must provide a signed declaration that her gender identity is female. She must also demonstrate that “the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5 nmol/l continuously for a period of at least 12 months” and will stay at that level while she competes.

Navratilova was speaking alongside Chris Evert, her old rival, on the 40th anniversary of their Wimbledon final in 1984, which Navratilova won. Evert, 69, a three-time Wimbledon singles champion, lost to Navratilova in five Wimbledon finals. Evert praised Billie Jean King for starting “the revolution of women athletes”.

The Times