AUSTIN, TEXAS: Tennis legend Martina Navratilova recently took a dig at soccer star Megan Rapinoe’s claims that trans women should be able to participate in women's sports. Rapinoe was discussing her past controversies in an interview earlier in July when she revealed that she would have no problem playing with a trans soccer player on the US women's national team.
“Absolutely,’ Rapinoe told Time when asked if she would welcome a trans woman on to the women’s national team. “You’re taking a ‘real’ woman’s place,’ that’s the part of the argument that’s still extremely transphobic. I see trans women as real women. What you’re saying automatically in the argument—you’re sort of telling on yourself already—is you don’t believe these people are women,” she continued. The soccer star’s now-viral remarks apparently irked many, including Navratilova, who chimed in with a one-word response that made her feelings clear. "Yikes," tweeted the tennis icon in response to the article.
Which sports have a gender-specific prohibition on trans athletes?
Following the long-standing controversy, trans athletes were barred from competing in several women's divisions including those for rugby, swimming and rugby football league. Most recently, World Athletics voted to ban transgender women from elite female competitions if they had undergone puberty. Their decision was publically lauded by Navratilova, who called it a "step in the right direction." "In the wake of World Athletics' announcement, I think the best idea would be to have ''biological female'' and ''biological girls'' categories and then an ''open'' category," she shared in an op-ed in The Times.
In her recent interview, Rapinoe, who is set to play her final world cup, criticized Navratilova's stance on the subject, saying, "When Martina or Sage (Steele, ESPN anchor) or whoever is talking about this, people aren’t hearing it just in the context of elite sports. They’re saying, ‘The rest of my life, this is how I’m going to treat trans people.'” The US soccer star is openly gay, just like Navratilova, who has been married to former Russian model Julia Lemigova since 2014. The Czech-born American former professional tennis player has been an outspoken supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community but has also said that she only wanted biological women to participate in women's sports.
The controversy around trans athletes competing in women's sports
The argument about trans athletes participating in women's sports is a hotly debated topic that has dominated the news for many years. Critics asserted that many trans women have significant biological advantages as a result of going through puberty as boys, which can make it difficult for women to compete with them. In response, supporters cite hormone standards as a means of leveling the playing field. However, other research indicated that these parameters still failed to eradicate the underlying advantage trans women possess. There were also concerns that allowing trans women to participate in contact sports like football might lead to more serious injuries, according to the Daily Mail.
