"Go after the a**holes who do the actual physical attacking against Trans people" - Martina Navratilova comes to JK Rowling's defense

Known for speaking her mind on serious issues fearlessly, legendary tennis star Martina Navratilova has come forward to defend JK Rowling after the latter received flack for liking a tweet by an anti-LGBTQ+ Twitter account — Libs of TikTok.

Former World No. 1 Navratilova took to social media to state that rather than going after the British author, everyone should call out transphobic people (mostly men, according to her) who are responsible for attacking the transgender community. The retired American player's tweet came in response to British actor Frances Barber's similar views.

"Stop attacking JK Rowling. Leave her alone for at least a week. She’s a human being you know. I think you guys have lost your humanity," Barber wrote.

"This is getting ridiculous!!! Stop with attacking JK and go after the assholes (mostly men) who do the actual physical attacking and hate speech against Trans people," Navratilova tweeted in reply.

Among those who slammed 57-year-old Rowling was the Welsh actor and singer Callum Scott Howells, who identifies himself as queer. During a recent interview with the United Kingdom's gay magazine Attitude, Howells stated that he was scared for the LGBTQ+ community and that the author was "stoking the fire."

“These governments, I’ve lost count of how many we’ve had the last year, it’s really scary. With trans rights being attacked, JK Rowling isn’t helping. She’s stoking the fire and giving the Tories permission to do it. It’s terrifying. I’m scared for this community and the people within it. We have to stick together and look after each other. If we don’t have each other, who do we have?” Howells said.

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"We are definitely the world's leader in this awful category" - Martina Navratilova on the number of gun violence victims in US since 1990

Martina Navratilova speaks against the gun laws in the US

Reacting to a new study published in the JAMA Network Open on Tuesday, 18-time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova shamed the US authorities for making America the world's leader when it came to gun violence incidents.

Research has suggested that as many as 1,110,421 people lost their lives to gun violence between 1990 and 2021 in America. The number that fell to 10 firearm deaths per 100,000 people in 2004 increased by 45.5% and reached 14.7 deaths for every 100,000 people in 2021.

"Wow… we are definitely the world's leader in this awful category," Martina Navratilova tweeted.

The study also showed that gun-related deaths went up in 2020 due to the global pandemic. 2022 was the third consecutive year that saw over 600 multiple-victim shootings in the US.