"Shame on you" - Martina Navratilova fumes at ESPN over coverage of Joe Biden dropping pending transgender athlete regulations
Martina Navratilova recently aired her frustrations at ESPN over the prominent sports broadcasting and news network's coverage of President Joe Biden scrapping pending regulations on transgender athletes.
On Saturday, December 21, ESPN published an article titled 'President Biden drops unfinished protections for trans athletes'. The article was alternatively titled 'Biden drops plan to protect transgender athletes' for Google Search. An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the article, and it drew the attention of Martina Navratilova.
The former World No. 1 and 18-time singles Grand Slam Champion condemned ESPN's coverage of the development. According to Martina Navratilova, the sports media giant's coverage was dismissive of how biological women athletes would be affected positively by President Biden's decision and focused solely on its potentially negative impact on transgender athletes.
"Really ESPN??? How about protecting women athletes? We don’t count? Shame on you @ESPN," Martina Navratilova.
The abandonment of Biden's efforts to provide certain protections for transgender student-athletes effectively means that President-elect Donald Trump would have to start processes from scratch if he wants to pursue new regulations on the same issues when he begins his second term as President, which is likely to be more time-consuming.
Navratilova firmly believes that there is no place for transgender athletes in women's sports. On several occasions, the Czech-American tennis legend has voiced her concerns on the subject and opined that physically, transgender athletes have the edge over biological women athletes.
Recently, the former World No. 1 was jubilant after President Biden withdrew the proposed Title IX amendment on the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports.
Martina Navratilova was delighted at President Biden's withdrawal of Title IX amendment
In April 2023, the Joe Biden administration proposed the Title IX amendment, which was aimed at preventing states from stopping the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports. However, the Department of Education recently confirmed via an announcement that the amendment had been withdrawn with less than a month to go before Donald Trump begins his second term as President.
Navratilova welcomed the development with open arms and wrote on X:
"Well hallelujah!!!!!"
While the Title IX amendment was all about preventing discrimination towards transgender athletes and eligibility determination based not on sex but on gender identity, it triggered a nationwide backlash. Following the proposal, 23 states enacted legislation that saw transgender athletes being banned from taking part in biological women's sports.
Navratilova has also been vocal in her opposition to allowing transgender individuals into women's spaces. She has also lent her support to other influential figures such as author J. K. Rowling, who is of the same view on the subject as Navratilova.