Martina Navratilova slams Saudi Arabia heading UN women's council amid country's controversial stance on women's rights

Martina Navratilova was enraged after news broke that the UNCSW's 69th session was being chaired by Saudi Arabia. This was the first time that the country was made chair since its establishment in 1946. Saudi Arabia has an ostensibly atrocious track record of violating women's rights including the discriminatory guardianship law that requires women to seek permission from men for basic activities.

Navratilova who has been a strong supporter of women's rights, was taken aback by this development. The UN Commission for years has also been criticized for turning a blind eye to the country's restrictive laws and are yet to adopt any substantive resolution on the matter.

Tennis legend and 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova, who had changed the way women's tennis is currently viewed, took to X to condemn it. She re-shared the post of UN Watch's Executive Director Hillel Neuer and gave her scathing take on the matter:

"They couldn’t find a less qualified person? This is beyond grotesque"- she wrote on Tuesday.

Martina Navratilova has always been very vocal in supporting women and is also one of the most well-known queer icons of her generation.

In an interview with Vogue Czechoslovakia in 2022, the former World No. 1 spoke about how her coming out as gay in 1981 led to her move to the US for freedom and how that has been going.

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Martina Navratilova came to America to be free but feels threatened in recent times

Martina Navratilova at an event in Australia- Source: Getty

Martina Navratilova had once expressed that she feels rather threatened to live in America in recent times due to its deteriorating political landscape. In an interview with Vogue CZ in 2022, she elaborated on the restrictions the state of Florida (where she resides) was facing then and how it made their life difficult:

"The governor of Florida is banning them from learning about sexuality, as if someone can change their sexuality by learning about it. The Supreme Court is taking away women's right to decide about their pregnancies. America is returning to ignorance, and for me, as someone from a totalitarian regime, it's crazy to watch."

Navratilova said that the way America is portrayed in popular media plays a vital role in shaping the ideologies that people have -- but the realities are quite different.

She is also critical of the current government and never shies away from expressing her dislike of the same.