A female tennis legend was dubbed “transphobic” after she commented that men shouldn’t be allowed to compete in female sports.
Described as one of the greatest female tennis players of all time, Martina Navratilova was forced to walk back her comments criticizing transgenders in sports as “unfair” after receiving a torrent of backlash from a trans cyclist.
“Clearly that can’t be right. You can’t just proclaim yourself a female and be able to compete against women,” Navratilova tweeted on December 19. “There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard…”
“For me it’s all about fairness. Which means taking every case individually… there is no cookie cutter way of doing things,” she added.
The comments swiftly prompted transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon to label Navratilova “transphobic,” asserting that genitals have nothing to do with sports.
“Welp, guess Navratilova is transphobic,” McKinnon tweeted, before launching into a diatribe lambasting the nine-time Wimbledon winner.
Welp, guess Navratilova is transphobic. https://t.co/Wv3ScAziBV
— Dr. Rachel McKinnon (@rachelvmckinnon) December 20, 2018
“People: genitals are IRRELEVANT to sports performance. Totally irrelevant,” McKinnon insisted. “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 #SorryNotSorry #Facts.”
People: genitals are IRRELEVANT to sports performance. 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#SorryNotSorry #Facts
— Dr. Rachel McKinnon (@rachelvmckinnon) December 20, 2018
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.
— Dr. Rachel McKinnon (@rachelvmckinnon) December 20, 2018
No seriously, show me a competitive advantage that having a penis confers. @Martina, I'll wait.
— Dr. Rachel McKinnon (@rachelvmckinnon) December 20, 2018
“Also, no sport involves the genitals,” McKinnon added. “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, a lesbian and a liberal according to political posts on her Twitter feed, later left the conversation saying she would not be “bullied” and continued to stand by her belief that, at its core, males competing against females is unfair.
“It seems to be my decades of speaking out against unfairness and inequality just don’t count with you at all,” Navratilova reportedly told McKinnon, to which she responded, “Doesn’t change the fact that you did something very wrong today. Past good deeds don’t give someone a pass.”
At one point, McKinnon questioned why Navratilova was unfamiliar with him, asking “You realize I’m a world champion trans woman athlete?”
Eventually Navratilova apologized: “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.”
But she had one last dig at McKinnon: “Rachel, you might be an expert on all things trans but you are one nasty human being.”
McKinnon, who identifies as Queer, Lesbian, Pan, Polyam, Asexual and Trans, won a women’s cycling championship back in October. The woman who placed third during that race also criticized him, saying “it’s definitely not fair.”
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