Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has apparently responded to Megan Rapinoe’s comments regarding the participation of transgender women in women’s sport as the soccer star is about to compete in her final World Cup later this month.
Rapinoe was asked about transgender athletes in women’s sports in a recent interview with Time magazine.
Rapinoe said lawmakers were “trying to legislate people’s full humanity” and said she would accept a trans woman to replace a biological woman on the U.S. national team.
As the comments circulated on the Web, Navratilova interjected in one word.
“Yes…” she wrote.
The nine-time Wimbledon champion was an activist in the gay community but opposed trans women competing with biological women in sports.
In March, she praised World Athletics for adopting a policy of excluding transgender athletes from women’s competitions. She called it “a step in the right direction.”
“Following the announcement of World Athletics, I believe the best idea can be to create a category for ‘biological women’ and ‘biological girls’, followed by an ‘open’ category,” she wrote in an article in The Times of UK.
![Czech-born former professional tennis player Martina Navratilova.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013737492.jpg?w=1024)
![Professional soccer player, Megan Rapinoe.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013768633.jpg?w=1024)
![Demonstrators have been seen with signs saying trans people belong in sport.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013803669.jpg?w=1024)
Rapinoe, on the other hand, was one of 40 skilled athletes who signed a letter to House of Representatives lawmakers in April in opposition to the Girls and Women in Sports Protection Bill, arguing that the bill would exclude women and girls from “mental and physical health advantages.”
“It’s especially frustrating when women’s sports are armed,” he told Rapinoe Time. “Oh, now we care about justice? Now we care about women’s sports? It’s total bull—. And show me all the transgender people who use being transgender wickedly in sports. It just doesn’t occur.”
She explained why she would accept a transgender woman to the USA women’s team.
![Navratilova (left) opposed competition between transgender women and biological women in sports.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013738904.jpg?w=1024)
![Megan Rapinoe (15) from the United States watches the end of the second half of the football match against Wales that ended the FIFA Women's World Cup.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013833123.jpg?w=1024)
“Absolutely,” she said. “You’re taking the place of a “real” woman, is the part of the argument that continues to be extremely transphobic. I see trans women as real women. What you are robotically saying in this argument – you are already saying about yourself in a way – is that you simply do not believe these people are women. Due to this fact, they occupy a distinct place. I do not feel that way.
Rapinoe will make its final World Cup appearance this month as the United States women’s national team travels to Australia and Recent Zealand in hopes of making history: becoming the first women’s or men’s team to win three peats.
The 38-year-old soccer star announced over the weekend that she plans to retire at the end of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season.
Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion Rapinoe will compete in her fourth and final World Cup, starting on July 20.