"There should be no bullying": Martina Navratilova again calls for no trans athletes in women's tennis

Former world number one Martina Navratilova has once again raised concerns about the participation of transgender athletes in women’s tennis. There has been a lot of discussion about whether transwomen should be allowed to participate in women’s sports.

Navratilova has remained consistent in her point of view that women’s tennis, in particular, and women’s sports, in general, should not have athletes who can be classified as biological males. The 68-year-old expressed those opinions on various platforms, as well as in her posts on social media, especially on X. Those concerns were also shared by authorities in the United Kingdom, who last year banned transgender athletes from participating in women’s tennis events in the future.

Navratilova has recently spoken to the BBC, where she reiterated her point of view once again. The 18-time Grand Slam winner stated that while she sympathises with transgender women, that should not be enough for them to participate in women’s tennis. Navratilova stated that letting athletes who are biologically male compete with women gives them an unfair advantage, something which, according to her, should never be allowed.

“Very sympathetic [with transgender athletes] but that still doesn't give them a right to women's sex-based spaces,” she said. "There should be no ostracism, there should be no bullying. But male bodies need to play in male sports. They can still compete. There is no ban on transwomen in sports. They just need to compete in the proper category which is the male category. It's that simple. By including male bodies in the women's tournament, now somebody is not getting into the tournament - a woman is not getting into the tournament because now a male has taken her place."