Martina Navratilova calls on women to boycott participating in events allowing transgender athletes to compete alongside biological females
Martina Navratilova reckons female athletes should be prepared to boycott events where transgender athletes are allowed to participate alongside biological women, even if it's not a perfect solution.
It all started when British Olympian and former competitive swimmer Sharron Davies took to social media to comment on the intermixing of male and female athletes in contact sports.
Davies opined that if a woman died because of a male competitor, "someone" had to go to prison for manslaughter and that the concerned governing bodies should be held accountable for their negligence.
"If a sports woman dies in a contact sport because of a male competitor, I want someone to go to prison for manslaughter. ... the governing bodies that are not following the known peer reviewed science are utterly culpable of negligence. 19 studies show us that. NON show otherwise," Davies said.
That led to a discussion on Twitter (now X), when one user pointed to a recent instance where a trans fighter, Alana McLaughlin, beat Celine Provost on her MMA debut. McLaughlin's win sparked controversy immediately, with fans arguing whether trans women should be allowed to compete opposite biological women.
Navratilova lodged herself firmly on one side of the fence, saying that it's "dangerous and unfair" to Provost and to women in general.
"Just watched the whole video! Sickening. The technically superior fighter,a female, losing, laying in a pool of blood while the commentators cheer on the winner, a biological man., saying this is historical. Yup, it is that for all the wrong reasons. This is dangerous and unfair," Martina Navratilova said.
Replying to the 18-time Grand Slam champion, one fan remarked that women should stop competing in events where they are pitted against transgender athletes, which invited opposition from another fan.
Navratilova, though, agreed with the former, stating that even though women would get shafted either way, boycotting such events could foster change sooner than otherwise.
"Agree. Women get the shaft either way, but some boycotts could be the fastest way to change the rules," Navratilova said.
When another fan asked Martina Navratilova if she would have done the same - boycott events if she knew a trans woman was also competing - the American proclaimed that she would have "absolutely" done so.
"If I thought it was unfair, yes. Absolutely," Navratilova said.
Martina Navratilova disapproves of Australian Open allowing trans athletes to participate alongside women
Tennis Australia recently revealed that they have been in talks with the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) about the idea of allowing transgender athletes to participate at the tournament.
However, Martina Navratilova doesn't approve of trans women playing alongside biological women, suggesting instead that trans athletes should play in their biological category and not in their chosen category.
“Oh boy. This is not a good idea at all. Trans athletes are included in sports- in the biological category, not in their chosen category. By including trans identified males in females sports, spots for biological females are taken away. I am not ok with that,” Navratilova said.