Tennis legend Martina Navratilova ripped Lia Thomas after the transgender swimmer, who won an NCAA women’s swimming championship, criticized the “half support” she claimed she receives.
Thomas said on the “Dear Schuyler” podcast with Bailar Schuyler – the first openly transgender NCAA swimmer – those who support her as a person but not her pursuit in sports are “using the guise of feminism to sort of push transphobic beliefs.”
Navratilova slammed Thomas’ remarks in a tweet on Wednesday.
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“NEWSFLASH Lia- it’s not fair. We shouldn’t have to explain it to you over and over. Also- stop explaining feminism to feminists….” Navratilova wrote.
The nine-time Wimbledon champion has been an activist for the gay community but has been against transgender women competing against biological women in sports.
Last month, she applauded World Athletics for adopting a policy to exclude transgender female athletes from women’s competitions. She 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 wrote in an op-ed in The Times of UK. “It would be a category for all-comers: men who identify as men; women who identify as women; women who identify as men; men who identify as women; non-binary — it would be a catch-all. This is already being explored in athletics and swimming in Britain.
“Biological females are most likely to compete in the biological female category, as that’s their best shot at winning and it maintains the principle of fairness. With an ‘open’ category there are no question marks, no provisos, no asterisks, no doubts. It’s a simple solution.
“Once somebody has gone through male puberty, there is no way to erase that physical advantage. You cannot simply turn back the clock, for instance by trying to lower testosterone levels.”
Navratilova said she hoped the decision would lead to other sports following its lead.
