"Means a lot to women who were displaced” - Martina Navratilova rebukes journalist over remarks on inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports

Martina Navratilova recently engaged in a heated debate with a sports journalist over her remarks about the inclusion of transgender people in women's sports.

Navratilova has never shied away from expressing her staunch opposition to letting transgender people compete in women's sports. She recently responded to a sports journalist Jemele Hill, who pointed out that transgender athletes were not a threat to women's sports. Hill added that lack of funding, marketing, and resources were the bigger threats.

Hill wrote:

"Respectfully, there have been 32 trans athletes who have competed at the NCAA level, ever. Most have been trans men. None in women’s basketball. 1 in WNBA history."

"Meanwhile, under-funding, under-resourcing, under-promoting, under-marketing, and utter disregard for women’s sports has been a persistent, decades-long problem," she continued. "I wish you and others would use that same energy you have in attacking the trans community to pressure decision makers to do better in supporting women’s sports. Money, resources and commitment is what make women’s sports thrive — and the lack thereof is what will truly make women’s sports disappear."

To this, Navratilova responded that over 900 trans athletes won in women's competitions. The tennis legend lamented the opportunities the women lost due to the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports.

"So far there have been over 900 wins and trophies that trans identifies males won over female athletes in proper competitions. Maybe it’s not that many to you but it means a lot to the women who were displaced…and who didn’t win…" Navratilova responded.

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Martina Navratilova: "Women are good enough to compete against other females"

Martina Navratilova at the 2021 WTA Finals

Martina Navratilova rebuked a comment on women athletes not being good enough to compete. An X user( Alison Byrne Fields) replied to her tweet and criticized Navratilova for misgendering. She also wrote that every athlete has some physical advantage over others adding that some female athletes do not and hence they lose.

"Your decision to misgender people makes your statement worthless. The fact is that all athletes have physical advantages over others. Maybe all of those female athletes — despite their own physical advantages — just weren't good enough?" the user wrote.

To which, Navratilova replied that 'trans-identified males' was the right way to describe transgender athletes. The 18-time Grand Slam champion slammed the user for mentioning that women athletes were not good, adding that women should compete against other women.

"Trans identified males is the proper way to describe males who choose to be trans and compete in female category. So- no misgendering going on at all. And if I hear one more time the women weren’t good enough!!! They are good enough to compete against other females. Get it now???" Martina Navratilova replied.