Yet another WNBA coach has now spoken out to support “inclusivity” and agreed that men who claim to be women should be allowed to play in women’s sports, earning a sharp rebuke from tennis star Martina Navratilova.
Natalie Nakase, head coach for the Golden State Valkyries, insisted that “sports is about belonging” and went on to say that she is all for “transgender women” playing in women’s sports during her press availability session on Sunday.
“For me, sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self,” she exclaimed.
“I’m big on that because I have been criticized for my height, for my ethnicity. I’ve been in those ‘you shouldn’t belong here,’ [moments], and for me I don’t want that space, especially Golden State, to ever feel like that,” the Japanese American coach said.
Nakase then got specific, adding, “I’m all about women, little girls deserving to play, and that includes trans women. So, I’m all about inclusivity.”
Nakase joined three other WNBA coaches who came out in favor of such “inclusivity.”
The coach’s comments sparked a firestorm. Women’s tennis great Martina Navratilova, for one, dealt a swift backhand to coach Nakase.
Navratilova, who is a liberal but is a strong advocate of keeping men out of women’s sports, took to her social media to shake her head over Nakase’s nonsensical position and called the coach’s ideas “astounding” for their ignorance.
“How is including males on women’s team inclusive for the female athlete who lost that spot to a male? The ignorance is astounding,” she wrote on Monday.
Fans had much to say on Nakase’s comments:
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