"Never heard a player say they didn’t want me in the locker room" - Martina Navratilova hits back at accusations of bigotry and hate for transgender people

Martina Navratilova defended herself following accusations of being a bigot and anti-trans.

The issue arose when a fan on social media told the former World No. 1 that he was not a fan of her "anti-trans side" and that her beliefs were an indication of her bigotry.

"Not digging this anti-trans side of you Martina. We’ve battled for gay and lesbian rights for decades and now to have some in the lesbian community show bigotry and hate toward trans folks? Totally not cool. Bigotry is bigotry and it’s NEVER ok," a user tweeted.

The 65-year-old responded by asking the user to "check" his male privilege and that he shouldn't equate other issues to her sexuality.

"Not cool to be asking for the right of women to have our own spaces? That would be bigotry? What is not cool is not having those spaces… check your male privilege, please," she replied.

"So let me ask you- you think it is wrong that biological women who are in a rape survivor group insist on having only biological females in the group, including the actual counselor? Or are they wrong to exclude trans women from that particular group? she added.

It's not the first time the 18-time Grand Slam champion has been involved in a social media debate around this topic. She recently engaged in a debate with a US Senate candidate representing North Carolina over the definition of a woman.

“A woman is an adult female. It’s pretty simple and that is not transphobic,” she had tweeted, adding, “Would you like to mansplain to me, an adult human female, just exactly what is a woman then?”

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Martina Navratilova threatens legal action over inclusion of trans people in women's sports

Martina Navratilova is an 18-time Grand Slam winner.

Martina Navratilova has been very vocal about the inclusion of transgender people in the women's category across various sports.

A few days ago, in response to a social media post that suggested decision-makers are being influenced by men threatening lawsuits, she stated that women would also sue over the inclusion of trans people in women's sports.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an Olympian and civil rights lawyer, brought up the issue of men using lawsuits to get their way.

"I just heard the most maddening sentiment from a man making decisions about #WomenInSport & the inclusion of trans-identified-men into our category.“THE WOMEN WON’T SUE.” Decision-makers worried about lawsuits from males, who are suing. No qualms from them," Hogshead-Makar tweeted.

In response, Navratilova stated that women would also sue if needed.

"Women won't sue?!? Watch us!!!" Navratilova wrote in response.