Martina Navratilova on the idea of trans athletes competing with women at Australian Open: "This is not a good idea"
Martina Navratilova is not happy with Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley's comments on letting trans athletes compete in elite women's tennis.
Tiley recently stated that Tennis Australia, of which he is the CEO, is pushing the world governing bodies of tennis to maintain inclusive rules for transgender players.
Tiley said that Tennis Australia has been speaking with both the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to allow transgenders to play at the elite level.
“When it comes to professional tennis, we’ve got to be responsive to the international tennis federations. They set the guidelines and the policy on it. But you know, as a sport, we’ve made our position pretty clear … and we are supportive [of transgender inclusion],” Tiley told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“We’re trying to influence the decision now. We are an organisation that believes absolutely in inclusivity, in diversity, in equality – so any decision made will need to be aligned with our core values,” he added.
Eighteen-time Grand Slam champion Navratilova, who has always been vocal about not allowing trans athletes to compete in women's sports, was understandably unhappy with Tiley's comments.
Responding to the news on social media, Navratilova said that it wasn't a good idea as it would take away the spots meant for 'biological women'.
“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,” she tweeted.
@fem_mb @CraigTiley @WTA @ITFTennis @FondOfBeetles 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.
The former World No. 1 further reiterated her stance and hit out at Tiley for not understanding "the concept".
“By including trans identified males in female category, biological females lose a spot. It’s that simple.Seems to me Craig Tilley doesn’t understand that concept,” she added.
By including trans identified males in female category, biological females lose a spot. It’s that simple.Seems to me Craig Tilley doesn’t understand that concept. twitter.com/fem_mb/status/…
Martina Navratilova's fight against including trans athletes in women's sports: A quick glance
Martina Navratilova has been vocal about not allowing trans athletes to compete in women's sports.
When World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, announced that no transgender athlete would be eligible to compete in the female category, she praised the decision in her The Times column.
When transgender cyclist Austin Killips won the women's category of the Tour of the Gila on April 20 this year, she expressed disappointment with transgender women's participation in female competitions.
Martina Navratilova on Austin Killips' cycling triumph: 'Women’s sports is NOT THE PLACE' for trans athletes fxn.ws/4296K2s
Navratilova also came down heavily on an American biweekly magazine article that accused women's swimming in the United States of being transphobic. In November last year, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) commissioned a report on the advantages or disadvantages transgender athletes might have when competing alongside women in professional sports.
The report stated that there was very little research on the potential advantage of trans female athletes over cisgender women before and after Hormone Replacement Therapy. Navratilova claimed the report could be inaccurate and said that she was tired of women always getting the short end of the stick.
Could be because the report is wrong. The advantages are obvious even with mitigation. Prove there is no advantage and then include, not the other way around. Women get the short straw again and I am sick of it! twitter.com/EthicsInSPORT/…
When a fan on social media accused the 66-year-old of bigotry, the 18-time Grand Slam champion defended herself by asking the fan to "check" his male privilege and not equate other issues to her sexuality.
@bgilman66 @triggerpod @andrewdoyle_com @francisjfoster @KonstantinKisin Not cool to be asking for the right of women to have our own spaces? That would be bigotry? What is not cool is not having those spaces… check your male privilege, please.
Navratilova, interestingly, was coached by transgender athlete Renee Richards during her playing days.