Tennis has become a new area of contention for the issue of transgenders in women’s sports, and Martina Navratilova has made it clear where she stands.
The tennis legend is disgusted with the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) decision to have rules in place that allows for biological men to compete against women. In addition to not asking for any sort of gender confirmation for recreational tournaments, the UTSA has the following policy in place for elite/professional settings:
- Those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the male category without restriction.
- Those who transition from male to female are eligible to compete in the female category under the following conditions:
- The athlete has declared that her gender identity is female. The declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of four years.
- Hormonal therapy appropriate for the assigned sex has been administered in a verifiable manner and for a sufficient length of time to minimize gender-related advantages in sport competitions.
- In the event of non-compliance, the athlete’s eligibility for female competition will be suspended for 12 months.
These rules allowed for a biological man to win a women’s national tournament in Philadelphia over the weekend. When Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) founder Kim Shasby Jones asked for Navratilova’s thoughts on this matter, the all-time great served up a scathing response.
Come on @USTA- women’s tennis is not for failed male athletes- whatever age. This is not right and it is not fair. Would this be allowed at the US Open this month? Just with self ID? I don’t think so… https://t.co/UkBzhaL6b6
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) August 6, 2023
Navratilova’s comments also come just days after a similar situation unfolded in Wyoming, where a biological man was allowed to compete in a women’s tournament.
Related: Insufferable Megan Rapinoe's Career With USWNT Ends With a Missed Penalty Kick
No matter what set of rules the USTA could conceive, men will always have gender-related advantages that cannot be undone by any sort of physical modification. Men end up consistently beating women because of those advantages.
But perhaps the saddest part is that no matter how many times we see it happen in any sport, leagues like the USTA still make rules for deranged men to compete against women. If this is the path we continue to go down, how long can we expect tennis - or any women’s sport - to last in any fair way for real women?
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