Tennis great Martina Navratilova lobbed a shot directly at pro-trans actor Daniel Radcliffe for his recent proclamation that “transgender women are women,” and told the actor to “be quite” on what role transgenderism has in the women’s rights movement.
Radcliffe recently wrote a piece to support The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ group that focuses on suicide rates among the gay and transgender communities, in which he piously proclaimed, “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.”
Radcliffe’s letter seemed to “mansplain” to women what a trans woman should be to their struggles even as he then claimed he lacks the “expertise on the subject matter.”
Radcliffe’s open letter, which also served as an attack on author J.K. Rowling — the woman responsible for giving Radcliffe his start in acting with her Harry Potter book series — was ridiculed by an X user in a post that also brought comment from the tennis legend.
The original criticism of Radcliffe read, “Imagine saying this with your full chest, stating that males who identify as women, and that ‘Jo’ (@jk_rowling), who has been a woman for a whole 58 years is ‘not as versed on the subject’ of what a woman is. Piss off, Daniel.”
That post brought Navratilova to add, “Just be quiet Daniel. Be quiet.”
Just be quiet Daniel. Be quiet. https://t.co/0uhYLRJwHu
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) October 2, 2023
Navratilova also replied to someone criticizing her blast on Radcliffe. When an X user asked why Radcliffe should be quite, Navratilova replied, “Because females need their sex based spaces, that means no biological males, however they might identify. That includes sports and the locker rooms. Thank you.”
Also, when another woman replied that the argument to exclude trans “women” from women’s spaces doesn’t make sense to her, the tennis great replied, “So you’re putting trans women’s safety and comfort over the safety and comfort of biological women? When most trans do not have any surgery nor take any hormones at all? Ok then. You’re ok with your 12 year old daughter in the locker room with naked fully intact males bodies? Ok.”
On Tuesday, Navratilova also took a shot at U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Halland for posting about her visit with a drag queen named “Pattie Gonia,” who parades as a glammed-up U.S. Park Ranger. Navratilova asked incredulously, “Is this a joke? 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
Navratilova has been a persistent voice in opposition to male-born transgender athletes from being allowed to compete in the women’s category. Last month, for instance, she blasted the United States Tennis Association (USTA) for its policy allowing men claiming to be women to compete in the women’s category, calling the policy “unfair.”
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