Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has criticized women’s football icon Megan Rapinoe for the statement she made regarding biological sex verification for female athletes. It all started when Navratilova’s fiercest rival, Chris Evert, defended the 18-time Grand Slam champion against the backlash she has faced for supporting the WTA’s new gender-testing policy.
While weighing in on the WTA’s decision, Evert felt it was best to ask for Renee Richards or Caitlyn Jenner’s opinions. The matter escalated when a user shared Rapinoe’s clip where she had ripped Indiana Fever Guard Sophie Cunningham for her stance against the inclusion of transgender women athletes.
Thanks for the submission!
“Dear @ChrissieEvert, Megan Rapinoe has the answer to your question:” the user wrote on X.
Martina Navratilova responded to the user’s remark, slammed the $5,000,000 soccer stalwart (Source: Celebrity Net Worth) for her genital testing comment, and wrote on X:
“Dear Halfie- Megan is lying about genital testing. Try again.”
The two-time Women’s FIFA World Cup champion opposed a Washington state ballot initiative that requires female student athletes to undergo physical examination for biological sex verification. Rapinoe claimed that such physical examinations could lead to discrimination, especially against “black girls.”
“There’s a bill in washington happening right now that’s going to require all girls, just like full stop, to go through a sex test, an invasive like examining their genitals to see if they’re a woman. We know what that means. Black girls are going to get questioned more and they’re going to get questioned first,” Rapinoe said on The View.
Over the years, Martina Navratilova has strongly opposed the inclusion of transgender athletes and protected athletes from backlash who have mirrored her viewpoint.
Why Martina Navratilova is against the inclusion of transgender women athletes in female sports
In 2023, during a conversation with journalist Kara Swisher, Martina Navratilova spoke at length about her stance against the inclusion of transgender women athletes in female sports. The 69-year-old clarified that she isn’t against trans people but against “male” bodies competing against females.
“I’m all for trans rights on a civil level, 100 percent, every which way. This is not against trans athletes. This is against male bodies competing as women, if they identify as women. Many sports don’t even have any mitigation, any allowance for lowering the testosterone level, et cetera. But what has been proven, even when you do take those testosterone blockers or hormone therapy, even after 15 years, male bodies still retain physical advantage over women athletes,” Navratilova said.
“We are not against trans athletes. We are for women athletes to compete on as level a playing field as possible, which means the males who now identify as women, should compete in a male category and women who identify as men but don’t take testosterone can compete as women. Because there is still no advantage physically over other women athletes,” she added.
Martina Navratilova has recently faced heat for supporting the WTA’s mandatory new gender-testing policy, which requires all players to provide a cheek swab, blood, or saliva sample for SRY gene testing. Players who test negative will be allowed to compete on the tour. As of now, no known transgender athlete is competing on the WTA tour.
Edited by Shyam Kamal