Sorry Martina, this court won’t allow any scientific evidence
Tennis great faces volley of criticism for pointing out the biological advantage transgender players have over an opponent who was born a woman
ONCE one of the most celebrated champions of LGBTQ rights, Martina Navratilova today is a pariah among some of her community.
For decades the American tennis star was a high-profile advocate for the equal treatment of those living non-traditional heterosexual lives when, at the time, she faced persecution herself.
Openly lesbian, she dared to speak out, rightly giving rise to open and honest conversations that helped millions around the world.
Today, however, despite all her courage, she has found there are things she cannot say – even on her own court.
Navratilova was placed in the crosshairs of the LGBTQ community after daring to question the validity of formerly male transgender athletes.
She said they “can’t just proclaim themselves female” and use their inherent biological advantage to compete against those born a different gender.
“There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard,” wrote Navratilova.
This from a woman, an elite athlete, who had a close-up view of the athletic gap between men and women.
At the time, her words sparked instant hostility from some quarters, leading her to take it upon herself to further “research” the issue.
After looking into the subject, she said it had only “strengthened” her opinions that it was “insane” that male-born athletes were allowed to collectively “cheat”.
“A man can decide to be female,” she wrote, “take hormones if required by whatever sporting organisation is concerned, win everything in sight and perhaps earn a fortune, and then reverse his decision and go back to making babies if he so desires. It’s insane, and it’s cheating.”
The backlash was as sudden as it was brutal.
A British transgender rights group, Trans Actual, tweeted: “We’re pretty devastated to discover that Martina Navratilova is transphobic.”
The Canadian transgender cyclist, Rachel McKinnon, now a world champion, branded the tennis great “a bigot” accusing her of “sharing hate speech”.
“This is, in her own words with the time of forethought and authorship, Martina Navratilova’s ‘core’ argument against trans women athletes,” she tweeted. “It’s a wild fantasy worry that is an irrational fear of something that doesn’t happen. An irrational fear of trans people? Transphobia.” Athlete Ally, a US group dedicated to supporting LGBTQ athletes, dropped her from its advisory board.
One article even compared Navratilova to Joseph Goebbels. Their outrage left the former Wimbledon champion, who has been backed by British athletes such as Paula Radcliffe, Sharon Davies and Dame Kelly Holmes, apologising for using the word “cheat” but she stood by her concerns.
Science is the true judge and should be listened to when deciding whether transgender women compete fairly in women’s sport. Experts agree that testosterone during growth, puberty and maturation results in significant differences between the sexes in terms of strength and body structure.
Take those, for example, who were born male now competing in female combat sports. Their fists alone are much bigger than their opponents’ while their bones have much greater strength.
Another instance is the case of Laurel Hubbard. The New Zealand weightlifter competed in men’s competitions before transitioning at the age of 35 and was last year allowed to take part in the Commonwealth Games. She has had the benefit of being born and living with much higher muscle density, stronger bones and all-round greater strength for most of her life before transitioning.
To see her or McKinnon on a podium highlights just how physically different they are to those born female.
Women fought for years to have women’s sport put on a par with their male counterparts, only now are they being forced to compete against athletes born male.
Few things better illustrate the madness of our times, and how common sense has been utterly cast aside from decision making in almost every sphere of activity, than the fact that biological men are allowed to compete as women against women.
If nothing else, the response to Navratilova daring to discuss the issues shows how few people are willing to speak out in this PC world.
If only others had the balls to follow her lead.