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Martina Navratilova recently reacted to the news of five middle school girls from West Virginia refusing to compete against a transgender athlete in a shot-put competition.
On Tuesday, April 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit made the decision of overturning a West Virginia law that banned transgender girls from participating in girls' sports. The ruling comes on the back of growing backlash against transgender rights across the United States.
The court specifically mentioned that the law could not be used to exclude Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old athlete, from participating in girls' sports since she has been taking puberty-blocking medication and has identified herself as a girl since third grade. She competes for the Bridgeport Middle School girls track & field team in West Virginia.
During the recent 2024 Harrison County Middle School Championships, where seven schools were participating, five girls from one of the shot-put teams protested Becky Pepper-Jackson's inclusion by stepping out of the playing field.
Reacting to this news, 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova, who has been vocal about her dislike of the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports, took to social media and expressed her disappointment. She said it was unfortunate that these middle school girls felt compelled to make such a "brave gesture."
"Too bad these girls were forced to make this brave gesture," Navratilova posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Martina Navratilova - "I'm all for trans rights on a civil level, a hundred percent"
Last year, Martina Navratilova said that she is not against trans rights and is in favor of civil rights for transgender people. She stated that she is against "male bodies" competing as women since, in her opinion, the "male bodies" still have a high testosterone level, which gives them an edge over their female rivals.
"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," Martina Navratilova said on the 'On with Kara Swisher' podcast. (at 29:46).
Navratilova also stated that she is not against trans athletes but that she wants women athletes to compete on an even playing field.
"We are not against trans athletes. 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," she added (at 30:19).
