Martina Navratilova gives her take on the subject of transgender children as US Senator Ed Markey vows to "never stop fighting" for them

Martina Navratilova recently hit out at junior US Senator Ed Markey over his assurance that he will "never stop fighting for transgender children." Navratilova responded with a stinging message to Markey.

Junior US Senator Ed Markey was reacting to an article published in The Intercept that reported a last-minute addition to the National Defense Authorization Act, which aimed to prohibit access to gender-affirming care to minors who have one or more family members actively serving in the US military.

Markey, a Democrat, responded to the article with a post reading:

"To every transgender child and their family, let me be clear: I am fighting for you, and I will never stop fighting for you."

However, Markey's take did not go down well with former World No. 1 Martina Navratilova. Navratilova issued a response to the junior US Senator, suggesting that the word "transgender" does not apply to children. The Czech-American also wrote that she did not agree with letting children take "life altering drugs." She wrote:

"Children are not trans. They have no idea who they are. We don’t let them drink alcohol till they are :21 but think they can make a decision about taking life altering drugs at 10 or 12???"

In related news, Navratilova recently praised the UK government over its decision to indefinitely ban puberty blockers and suggested that the US should take a similar step.

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"UK is ahead of the curve" - Martina Navratilova on nation's indefinite ban on puberty blockers

Martina Navratilova (Source: Getty)

On Wednesday, December 11, an official press release from the UK government confirmed that puberty blockers are set to be indefinitely banned in the country. Puberty blockers are medicines that stall the secretion of estrogen and testosterone, the female and male sex hormones, respectively.

Martina Navratilova signaled her agreement with the decision, in a post on X. In her post, the former World No. 1 urged the Supreme Court of the United States to take note of this development. She wrote:

"Ban on puberty blockers to be made indefinite on experts’ advice - GOV.UK- maybe SCOTUS should read this… UK is ahead of the curve on all of it…"

Navratilova has also lauded the Lawn Tennis Association's move to prevent women who were assigned male at birth and non-binary members from participating in the female-only category at WTA events held in the UK. This will come into effect in the new year.