Tennis legend Martina Navratilova had a four-word reaction on Wednesday after a Democrat witness at the hearing on “Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.” was asked whether she thought males have a biological advantage over females in sports.
Kelley Robinson, who describes herself as the first queer, Black president of the Human Rights Campaign, was asked the question by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Robinson said she could “definitively” say males have an advantage over women in sports. Robinson then tried to use a “news article” about how some men believe they could beat Serena Williams in tennis.
As Robinson pointed that out, Riley Gaines noted that Williams and her sister, Venus, both lost to “lost to the 203rd-ranked male tennis player” more than a decade ago.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Fifty-year-old Karsten Braasch challenged and beat Serena Williams and Venus Williams back-to-back at the 1998 Australian Open after the sisters claimed they could beat any male player outside the world’s top 200.
Navratilova responded to the exchange on Twitter.
“This is just sad,” she wrote.
Navratilova did not appear at the hearing, but her presence was felt. Gaines quoted the tennis great during her opening statement at the hearing, and she thanked her for “being such a force.”
The nine-time Wimbledon champion has been an activist for the gay community but has been against transgender women competing against biological women in sports.
RILEY GAINES: ‘THE REWRITE OF TITLE IX IS AN ABOMINATION’
In March, she applauded World Athletics for adopting a policy to exclude transgender female athletes from women’s competitions. She called it a “step in the right direction.”
“In the wake of World Athletics’ announcement, I think the best idea would be to have ‘biological female’ and ‘biological girls’ categories and then an ‘open’ category,” she wrote in an op-ed in The Times of UK. “It would be a category for all-comers: men who identify as men; women who identify as women; women who identify as men; men who identify as women; non-binary — it would be a catch-all. This is already being explored in athletics and swimming in Britain.
“Biological females are most likely to compete in the biological female category, as that’s their best shot at winning and it maintains the principle of fairness. With an ‘open’ category there are no question marks, no provisos, no asterisks, no doubts. It’s a simple solution.
“Once somebody has gone through male puberty, there is no way to erase that physical advantage. You cannot simply turn back the clock, for instance by trying to lower testosterone levels.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Navratilova said she hoped the decision would lead to other sports following its lead.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Troutman contributed to this report.
Author Profile
- The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owned by the Fox Corporation.
Latest entries
- HeadlinesSeptember 20, 2024Diddy placed on routine suicide watch in New York jail: source
- HeadlinesSeptember 20, 2024Cornell professor who praised Oct 7 Hamas attack joins another anti-Israel protest on campus
- HeadlinesSeptember 20, 2024‘Bachelorette’ finalist Devin Strader addresses past arrest reports: ‘I know that I have made mistakes'
- HeadlinesSeptember 19, 2024Video shows former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías's domestic violence incident outside MLS match in 2023