When Martina Navratilova came out as a lesbian in 1981, the world was waiting for her to take the lead on the issues concerning the rights of LGBTQ+ people. She instantly became an idol among people who were treated unfairly on the basis of their gender or sexuality. The 59-time Grand Slam champion used her platform to talk about these issues and made headlines with her empowering statements. However, for a good past few years, Navratilova has become less of a role model and more of a critic for the transgender community. Recently, she is making headlines again with her comments about transgender participation in sports, and Twitter is not taking her opinions kindly.

When Navratilova came across an article on Twitter about the World Rowing adopting special rules for transgender athletes’ participation, she retweeted the post with a comment of her own. This comes closely following her comments after a court in the USA ruled in favor of transgender participation in powerlifting where she sided with a similar stance.

Martina Navratilova is not happy with including trans women in women’s sports

Navratilova reacted to an article posted by World Rowing themselves on Twitter. They posted a change in rules based on a review that aims to ensure fair competition and participation for women in sports.

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Navratilova’s comments are directed at the decision by World Rowing announcing the participation of transgender women in the game. Transgender women will play in the women’s category with the inclusion of the new rules. Martina called this decision “disgraceful”. She states that in a sport where strength is the deciding factor, it is unfair for transgender women to be in the same competition as cisgender women.

Her argument is staged on the physical advantages that men have over women such as greater body mass and higher bone density. These are not completely equalized during or after hormone therapy in many cases.

Why was the new policy implemented?

The organization’s new policies are aimed at inclusivity. They state that a rower who was assigned female at birth and did not transition to any other gender by the time of puberty is eligible to participate in the women’s category. For rowers who transitioned from male to female, i.e. transgender women, one criterion for deciding their eligibility is their serum testosterone concentration. It should be less than 2.5 nmol/L for at least the previous 24 months of the competition.

As with any policy, it is important to monitor and evaluate its effects of it over time and make adjustments. However, the goal is to create a level boat for all athletes to climb in, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Watch this story: ‘Seems to Get Injured a Lot’ – Martina Navratilova Once Used Serena Williams’ Example to Talk About the ‘Fragmented’ Nature of Women’s Tennis. 

This ensures that each athlete can compete to the best of their ability and not feel left out.