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Women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova entered a social media debate Thursday in defense of famed “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling over biological men in the women’s room.
Rowling was responding to an X-thread by English columnist Dan Hodges, who condemned what he considered “hostile” treatment of biological male transgenders who enter women’s spaces.
Rowling sarcastically wrote in response to Hodges: “A man explaining to women that they should pretend some of his mates are women because it’s ‘respectful’ is exactly what this debate needed. Thank you for your bravery.”
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“Harry Potter” author JK Rowling said on X this week that she is not keen on reconciling with actress Emma Watson over their political differences. (SOPA Images/Getty)
Rowling later wrote: “What you and many other men fail to understand, possibly because you are so used to women pandering to men’s feelings that you see it as the natural order of things, is that while a trans-identified man is quite and rightly free to dress and refer to himself as he pleases in our society, that does not give him rights over women’s beliefs and speech.
“I do not believe that a man literally becomes a woman when he identifies as one, and since I have freedom of speech, I have the right to call him a man. The verifiable truth about sex forms the legal basis for women’s rights and for protection. Nothing reveals your inability to understand this issue, or your fundamental sexism, more than the fact that you, a man, must assume how they should talk about men.”
Another user then responded to Rowling, arguing that the topic of trans people invading women’s spaces is a “fringe issue”.
Navratilova then entered the debate in defense of Rowling.
“Brows for you maybe. Not so fringe for the women victimized by men in women’s gendered spaces. Forced speech is also not ok,” Navratilova wrote.
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Tennis legend and women’s rights activist Martina Navratilova blasted The New York Times for a controversial description of biological women. (Angel Martinez/Getty Images for Laureus)
Navratilova has been a polarizing figure on social media for her conflicted support for liberals and opposition to Trump. She regularly criticizes Democrats for allowing biological males in women’s sports.
Last December, she said she was “mad” Republicans have tackled the nationwide controversy involving trans athletes in women’s sports instead of Democrats.
“And I’m so mad about it the republicans caught this issue – shame on all the elected democrats who are silent on this!!! #whataboutthewomen,” she wrote on X.
The tennis legend appeared at the Independent Women’s Forum’s Take Back Title IX rally in June to address the issue.
“In the beginning, being the Democrats and the women that we mostly are, in this group we tried to find every possible way to include trans-identified men, men who identify as women, in women’s sports,” she said. “And the more we try to find a way to mitigate the advantage, to somehow include the disabled, the more we found out that it’s not possible. It is not possible to do it in a fair way, and here we are very different.
“As I got deeper into the issue, I also saw the connection between women’s gendered spaces and women’s sports. They are totally connected, and I’m sure the swimmers at Penn could tell you all about it. You heard about Lia Thomasnot?
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Martina Navratilova in September 2022 in Flushing, Queens, New York City. (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
“Now it’s, ‘Oh, you’re a homophobe.’ Go figure. I’ve been out since ’81. Yes, I’m a homophobe,” she said, rolling her eyes. “‘You’re a bigot, you’re a transphobe, you’re a Nazi, you’re a fascist, you’re a communist,’ anything and everything in between. And this is coming from the left. I’m left wing! My people turn against me. They turn against us women who speak up for women’s sex-based rights.”
