Martina Navratilova criticized for stance on trans lesbians attending White House roundtable for Lesbian Visbility Day

Martina Navratilova has received a critical reaction to her stance on trans lesbians after she condemned Charlotte Clymer's attendance at a White House roundtable for Lesbian Visibility Day.

The 59-time Grand Slam champion has been condemned for her statements about transgender people in the past. In 2019, LGBTQIA+ group Athlete Ally cut ties with her after she accused transgender athletes of "cheating" in a newspaper column. 

"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," they said in a statement at the time.

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Navratilova accused of being intolerant

Now, Navratilova, who has been openly lesbian since 1981, has expressed her anger at Clymer, who is a trans woman, for being part of a White House roundtable for Lesbian Visibility Day. The former World No. 1 shared a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that said the following:

"Lesbians ARE losing our seat at the table. We were replaced with 2 biological men on Lesbian Visibility Day. In many countries lesbians have had our right to have lesbian only events, or apps, or online spaces taken away."

Navratilova added the caption:

"This is just wrong …males who identify as women as not lesbians…"

While some agreed with the 67-year-old, others asked her to respect trans people's gender identities and sexual orientations.

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"I really dig charlotte’s addition to the discussion. Just because she’s not exactly like you, doesn’t mean she shouldn’t have a seat at the table," wrote one fan.

"Martina, gender identity and sexual orientation are two different things. One gay be trans/gender non-conforming and also be gay/lesbian/queer. They are not mutually exclusive," added another.

"Lesbians who don’t accept transgender people is just wrong. They were born that way, just like all the LGBTQ people in this world," commented a third.