Tennis great Martina Navratilova claims she has been “jettisoned” by critics of her views on transgender athletes in sport.
The 67-year-old has been accused of spewing “transphobic vitriol” by a prominent journalist, before she doubled down on her opinion on the eve of Wimbledon 2024.
Navratilova is a legend at the All England Club thanks to winning nine Wimbledon titles during a distinguished career on the court.
Watch Wimbledon 2024 from July 1 live and exclusively free on Nine and 9Now. Plus centre court in 4K UHD on Stan Sport, the home of grand slam tennis.
She appeared at a press conference alongside former playing rival Chris Evert before this year’s tournament began on Monday.
Navratilova is a long-time gay rights activist – famously calling on Margaret Court’s name to be scrapped from Melbourne Park due to the latter’s homophobic beliefs.
But she is staunchly against transgender women being allowed to compete in female sport.
Navratilova is a member of an organisation called “Take Back Title IX” which has been travelling America in a bus spreading their anti-transgender message.
“I’m right on most people’s opinion about women’s sex-based spaces, and especially sports. They need to stay female,” she told the press conference at Wimbledon this week.
“I’ve been speaking my mind for a long time. I’m not going to change that. Yes, it’s been pretty rough.
READ MORE: Wimbledon favourite ‘heartbroken’ after difficult call
READ MORE: Maroons issued ‘please explain’ over Origin act
READ MORE: ‘She apologised’: AFL admit huge umpiring blunder
“But I know I’m on the right side of history.
“Women are asked to be kind and be inclusive, yet by including transgender-identified males in women’s sports, you’re excluding women.”
There are no transgender athletes competing in the Wimbledon main draws.
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1804317323848773997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Prominent American journalist Ben Rothenberg recently noted Navratilova’s transition from a tennis legend to an outspoken anti-trans activist.
“Martina Navratilova turning this anti-trans crusade into her life’s obsession in recent years remains dispiriting,” Rothenberg posted on X.
“And she turns it into way more transphobic vitriol than just discussing sports fairness, as I’ve covered before, just being nasty and cruel and dehumanizing. Boo.
“I care also, about someone who was a beacon of freedom and inclusion in the sport I’ve covered sadly choosing to erode the platform she built with cyberbullying campaigns aimed at obscure, low-level amateur athletes. I wish you were better than that.”