Martina Navratilova blasts Council of Europe for alleged "erasure" of women as a "sex class" in light of "trans" being replaced by "LBQ women"

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova recently voiced her frustration over what she perceives as an ongoing erasure of women as a distinct sex class. Navratilova's reaction came in response to reports from a December 5, 2024, conference titled "Addressing Violence and Discrimination Against Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women in Europe."

Organized by PACE and the Council of Europe’s SOGIESC Unit, it aimed to address the unique challenges faced by LBQ women, including lesbophobia, violence, and systemic exclusion.

However, a contentious aspect emerged in how the conference categorized individuals. A social media post highlighted that the Council of Europe has stopped referring to certain individuals as "trans" and instead included them under "LBQ women."

"The Council of Europe, scourge of women’s rights, has now stopped referring to autogynephile/transvestite men as ‘trans’ and is instead including them in the acronym ‘LBQ women’ in an attempt to obscure their erasure of women as a sex class," the original post read.

Navratilova, long known for her strong stance on protecting women’s spaces and sports, reshared a post on X (formerly Twitter) and sharply criticized the Council of Europe’s approach, writing:

"And the erasure continues. This must stop!!!"

The conference was part of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence and focused on the marginalization and discrimination faced by lesbian, bisexual, and queer women across Europe.

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Martina Navratilova criticizes IOC's transgender-inclusive language policy for Paris Olympics

Martina Navratilova during the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards press conference (Image source: Getty)

Martina Navratilova conveyed her disappointment with the International Olympic Committee's updated portrayal guidelines for the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Released in May 2024, the guidelines aimed at gender equality advised against terms like "born male," "biologically male," and "born female."

"Use of phrases like those above can be dehumanising and inaccurate when used to describe transgender sportspeople and athletes with sex variations. A person’s sex category is not assigned based on genetics alone and aspects of a person’s biology can be altered when they pursue gender-affirming medical care," a portion of the IOC guidelines read.

Navratilova, who has long opposed transgender athletes competing in women's sports, voiced her frustration with the new guidelines. She called the situation a "war on women" and claimed the IOC was "captured."

"IOC has been captured. This is 1984 version of war on women. Total erasure," Martina Navratilova wrote on X.

Last month, Martina Navratilova stood by her position on excluding transgender athletes from women’s sports after being labeled a "Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF)."