"Beyond irresponsible" - Martina Navratilova denounces USA Boxing’s transgender policy that allows trans women to fight female boxers

Martina Navratilova recently expressed her outrage over USA Boxing’s decision to allow transgender women to compete against female boxers from 2024.

Navratilova, who has been vocal about her opposition to transgender athletes in women’s sports, called the policy 'not ok' and 'beyond irresponsible'.

Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian in 1981, has faced criticism from some LGBTQ+ activists for her views on transgender inclusion in sports. She has argued that allowing male-born athletes to compete in female categories gives them an unfair advantage and undermines the integrity of women’s sports.

USA Boxing, the governing body of Olympic-style boxing in America, announced its new ‘Transgender Policy’ on Friday, December 29. The policy, which will take effect from January 1, 2024, will allow transgender boxers to compete in the gender category of their choice, subject to certain conditions.

According to the policy, transgender boxers under the age of 18 must compete in their birth gender, while those above 18 must have undergone hormone therapy and surgery and provide documentation of their hormone levels for at least four years before their first competition.

However, Navratilova was not impressed by the policy and took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice her displeasure. She shared an article by the Daily Mail Online, which reported on the policy and the concerns of some female athletes who felt ‘scared’ and ‘unsafe’ fighting transgender women.

"So not ok…beyond irresponsible," Navratilova wrote.

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“Not against trans athletes, we are for women to compete on a level field” - Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova at the 2023 WTA Finals

In a recent episode of the 'On with Kara Swisher podcast', Martina Navratilova clarified that she is only opposed to "male bodies competing as women" and not to all trans athletes.

Navratilova has often expressed her dissatisfaction with trans people participating in women’s sports, which has earned her the label of ‘transphobe’ on many occasions.

"We are not against trans athletes," Navratilova said. "We are for women athletes to compete on as level a playing field as possible, which means the males who now identify as women, should compete in a male category and women who identify as men but don't take testosterone can compete as women. Because there is still no advantage physically over other women athletes."

The 18-time Grand Slam champion continued:

"I'm all for trans rights on a civil level, a hundred percent. And this is not against trans athletes. This is against male bodies competing as women if they identify as women. Many sports don't even have any mitigation, any allowance for lowering the testosterone level, et cetera," she added.

Martina Navratilova then explained how men’s bodies have physical advantages over women’s bodies in sports.

"It has been proven even when you do take those testosterone blockers or hormone therapy, even after 15 years, male bodies still retain physical advantage over women athletes. They're taller, and their bone density, their lung capacity, their skeletal structure, even their airways are larger than women," she said.