Title : Martina Navratilova Under Fire Again for Stance on Female Trans Athletes
link : Martina Navratilova Under Fire Again for Stance on Female Trans Athletes
Martina Navratilova Under Fire Again for Stance on Female Trans Athletes
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has weighed in on transgender athletes again, and it's gone about as well as you might expect. Many who read what she wrote in the Sunday Times agreed with her overall assertion -- that trans women shouldn't be allowed to compete against cisgender woman because of an inherent advantage being born male provides. But some tone-deaf phrasing, an inflammatory headline and the use of a silly trope as a hyperbolic example was met by the LGBTQ community's most humorless letter with the DEFCON 1 reaction we've come to expect from them.
In my experience, trans people are the first to make a point of distinguishing that there are transgender and cisgender folks in the world. But then the minute Navratilova acknowledges the differences between the two she is blasted as being transphobic. Dr. Rachel McKinnon -- for whom Navratilova has no love lost -- immediately took to Twitter and twisted Navratilova's acknowledgment of these differences into Martina's saying trans women aren't "real women," as if Martina were challenging someone's gender identity. (McKinnon's evident insecurities about her womanhood struck me as something she ought to be discussing with her shrink rather than in a Twitter fight with a superstar jock.) I have never met McKinnon nor do I have anything against her, and I think it's horrendous that she says she is constantly bombarded with hateful messages online. But if this is how she warps the words of a lifelong LGBTQ ally, I'm not sure what to believe.
Above: Renee Richards now believes she shouldn’t have been allowed to play on the women’s tennis circuit
I also don’t have enough information to know whether Navratilova's assertions about trans women are correct or not. But I do know enough to think the prevailing idea among trans activists that Martina Navratilova -- arguably the best all-around player to ever play tennis -- and Dr. Renee Richards -- an actual medical doctor and the only trans woman to ever successfully compete on the tour -- are in no position to weigh in on the topic seems more than a bit galling to me. And it is undoubtedly why Navratilova feels the need to continue speaking out about something that has no measurable effect on her. "They're old" seems to be the prevailing reason why Martina's and Renee’s opinions are not worthy in their eyes, yet I can't think of two people whose insight would be more useful.
Above: Martina Navratilova lays out her case against trans women competing against cis women
Besides being an avid tennis fan, my only real stake in this is that I believe in LGBTQ equality and fairness. McKinnon and other trans activists point to the fact that the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA have ruled that female trans athletes have the right to compete -- now with no surgery and only reduced testosterone levels for one year. (Surgery and a two-year hormone reduction was the former guideline.) Yet the more I read and the less I see that scientifically backs up these trans activists' assertions, the stronger my hunch is that the governing bodies may have just acquiesced out of pure exhaustion. Knowing that premier-level athletes are incredibly rare, let alone ones who happen to be transgender, it was probably just easier to give in than be harassed the way Navratilova and anyone else who doesn't immediately jump on board has been. To date there have been zero trans athletes who have competed in the Olympics and nothing notable in tennis in four decades -- the WTA has a similar policy to the IOC -- so it might behoove Navratilova to just be quiet since it’s a bit of a moot point.
Rachel McKinnon, center, became the first transgender woman to win a female cycling world title (women’s 35- to 44-year-old age category). Bronze medalist Jen Wagner-Assali, right, said the contest was not fair
Mind you, I don't say any of this glibly. I am not a doctor, either. But from my own experience as a blogger and news editor I know that whenever I've tried to interact with trans activists on even fairly benign topics it has led to instant vitriol. Just yesterday when I tried to ask a trans journalist about her objection to Navratilova using Renee Richards's male name (the forbidden "deadnaming") while writing about her former coach's journey -- it was getting confusing when comparing Renee's results before and after transition -- instead of getting actual guidelines or input as to how to handle the situation in print, I was ganged up on and repeatedly insulted. (I was also told that all major news outlets now have a no-deadnaming policy in their stylebooks, but when I provided recent articles that mentioned Chelsea Manning's former identity from the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press, the person who chastised me went silent.) Then I was being “offensive” for pointing out McKinnon’s seeming self-doubt in the way she put words in others’ mouths. I finally (kindly) suggested to the group blasting me that as someone who has been involved in various forms of LGBTQ activism for more than three decades, I've found building allies -- rather than alienating them -- will get you a lot farther. Apparently these particular folks beg to differ. (Later that night I came to realize some other trans activists I had been engaging with had somehow gotten my Twitter account temporarily suspended, undoubtedly by disingenuously reporting one of my tweets.)
Still, I remain committed to fairness -- so I accept the IOC, NCAA and WTA's policies. But just out of curiosity, could someone please point me to the actual science -- not just McKinnon's berating and blocking people online -- that says trans women are at no distinct physical advantage over cis women? I'm curious if my hunch is right.
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