Martina Navratilova calls Transwomen ‘Biological Men’ in absurd statements on social media
Martina Navratilova dips her hands in controversy again.
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Martina Navratilova (Credit: The NY Times)
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has faced criticism and charges of transphobia after participating in a Twitter debate over her opinions on transgender women. The discussion started when a user tweeted about the possible harm posed by guys posing as women and arguing for unisex areas as a safe option.
In response, Navratilova retweeted the post, agreeing with the sentiment expressed, stating, “That’s exactly right. How do we know the difference between the nice ones and the bad ones? We can’t possibly know, that is the point. Unisex third space is the safe solution for everyone.”
These comments created a heated debate, with many people labeling Navratilova’s words as transphobic and promoting negative preconceptions about transgender women. Critics argue that her remarks convey fear and suspicion of transgender women as possible threats, meaning that they may endanger cisgender women in shared areas.
When a commenter responded to Navratilova’s remark by her that transgender women had been sharing spaces with cisgender women for a long time without incident, in response, she tweeted, “Never saw a naked fully intact biological male in a locker room, so yeah, not true.“
Her reaction drew additional criticism, with many pointing out that her remarks promote the problematic and incorrect assumption that transgender women are merely ‘biological males’ who do not belong in settings reserved for cisgender women.
Not the first time Martina Navratilova is accused of Transphobia
Martina Navratilova was withdrawn as an ambassador by Athlete Ally, a non-profit organization in the United States that works for the inclusion of LGBT athletes, in 2019. The decision was made in response to Navratilova’s contentious statements about transgender inclusion in sports in a newspaper column.
In the editorial, Navratilova referred to trans women as “men who decide to be female” and stated that enabling them to compete with people assigned female at birth is “cheating and unfair.” Her words sparked outrage, with the rights group Trans Actual calling them “disturbing, upsetting, and deeply transphobic.”
Athlete Ally issued a statement clarifying their decision to break ways with Navratilova, stressing their everlasting support for transgender athletes and their right to compete freely. They branded her remarks as transphobic, highlighting that they were based on a misunderstanding of science and statistics and that they propagated damaging myths that contributed to discrimination, hostile stereotypes, and disproportionate violence towards transgender people.
Another instance is when she took a jab at NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas. The spat between Navratilova and Thomas began when the swimmer called out feminists who only “half-support” her right to compete in swimming. Thomas, a transgender swimmer, had been pushing for her right to compete in women’s events, but her participation sparked arguments about sports fairness and inclusiveness.
A few months ago, during a podcast interview, Thomas referred to anyone who did not fully embrace her as ‘transphobic’. In reaction, Navratilova fired out against the swimmer on Twitter. The tennis star’s statements sparked outrage once more, with some accusing her of spreading negative stereotypes and discriminatory beliefs toward transgender athletes.
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Navya Mishra
(407 Articles Published)