Some people may have enjoyed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s recent video with a drag queen, but tennis legend Martina Navratilova is not one of them.
In a tribute to LGBTQ History Month, Haaland appeared with a drag queen who calls himself Pattie Gonia and describes himself as an environmentalist and a “professional homosexual.” The pair shot the video in front of the Stonewall Monument in New York City. The monument commemorates the Stonewall Uprising, three days of rioting that followed a police raid on a Greenwich Village gay bar called the Stonewall Inn in 1969 and is largely associated with the launch of the modern American gay rights movement.
To celebrate LGBT History Month, I joined outdoor advocate and climate movement icon @pattiegonia to discuss how places like @StonewallNPS help tell our country’s full and honest story. pic.twitter.com/XSIGs1qz9z
— Secretary Deb Haaland (@SecDebHaaland) October 2, 2023
Despite all that, Navratilova, who is gay, was unimpressed with the video.
“Is this a joke?” Navratilova wrote. “The pathetic parody of women continues.”
Is this a joke? The pathetic parody of women continues https://t.co/xxHa9hO64e
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) October 3, 2023
The tennis legend has been an outspoken opponent of allowing trans athletes to compete against women. Recently, she took aim at the United States Tennis Agency (USTA) for allowing men to compete against women.
“Come on @USTA- women’s tennis is not for failed male athletes- whatever age,” Navratilova wrote on X. “This is not right and it is not fair. Would this be allowed at the US Open this month? Just with self ID? I don’t think so.”
Come on @USTA– women’s tennis is not for failed male athletes- whatever age. This is not right and it is not fair. Would this be allowed at the US Open this month? Just with self ID? I don’t think so… https://t.co/UkBzhaL6b6
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) August 6, 2023
Most international sports governing bodies have moved to ban male athletes from competing against females. However, some national governing bodies, like the USTA, have not.