LGBT group cuts ties with Martina Navratilova over ‘cheating’ trans women comments
America-based pro LGBT group Ally Athlete has broken off its partnership with the tennis star Martina Navratilova after she said that allowing transgender athletes to compete against female counterparts was “insane and cheating.”
Ally Athlete, which describes its mission as a battle against “rampant homophobia and transphobia in sport,” removed Navratilova from its advisory board and called her recent comments “transphobic” and “discriminatory.”
“Martina Navratilova’s recent comments on trans athletes are transphobic, based on a false understanding of science and data, and perpetuate dangerous myths that lead to the ongoing targeting of trans people through discriminatory laws, hateful stereotypes and disproportionate violence,” the organization said in a statement.
Navratilova’s recent comments are transphobic, based on a false data, and perpetuate dangerous myths that lead to the ongoing targeting of trans people. She has been removed from our Advisory Board and as an Athlete Ally Ambassador, effective immediately. https://t.co/A1taa40ihv
— Athlete Ally (@AthleteAlly) February 19, 2019
“As an organization dedicated to addressing root causes of homophobia and transphobia in and through sport, we will only affiliate with those committed to the same goal, and not those who further misinformation or discrimination in any way,” the statement read.
In December, the legendary tennis player instigated a scandal after lambasting transgender athletes who compete against female counterparts.
“There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard,” the 62-year-old said at the time.
Also on rt.com ‘Having a penis and competing as a woman is not fair’: Navratilova inflames transgender furyHer comments caused a massive uproar among the LGBT community, forcing the multiple Grand Slam winner to apologize. Back then she vowed to “educate herself on the issue.”
However, despite her promise, the former tennis star reignited the dispute, insisting that transgender women have an unfair biological advantage in sport.
“It’s insane and it’s cheating. I am happy to address a transgender woman in whatever form she prefers, but I would not be happy to compete against her. It would not be fair,” Navratilova was quoted as saying by The Sunday Times.
The Czech player, who is herself an open lesbian and active gay rights activist, said that “reducing hormone levels” will not erase biological advantages that men have from birth, including muscle and bone density, “as well as a greater number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.”
