Tennis great Martina Navratilova has been very outspoken over the years about LBGTQ rights, but she was not happy when she saw US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland pose with a drag queen.
Haaland shared a video with Pattie Gonia, who is an environmentalist who describes herself as a “professional homosexual” in the past, in a post to the politician’s X page on Monday in order to celebrate LGBT History Month. The post quickly gained attention from all over.
Navratilova was not pleased, tweeting: “Is this a joke?” the 66-year-old tennis legend wrote. “The pathetic parody of women continues.”
A fan challenged the tennis star saying, “Butch lesbians always faced the same derision. ‘Not really a woman.’ We should all embrace each other. And this is a drag queen, not a trans person. They’re certainly not trying to pass for females!”
But Navratilova was not having it, firing back, “And how exactly are we supposed to know the difference?” she wrote. “And please do not compare males to butch females. Thank you.”
The tennis legend, who is openly gay, has also been very vocal about trans women competing in sports, saying she didn’t think trans women should be able to compete against biological women. These latest comments may not set well with the LBGTQ community either.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.