NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
Women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova weighed in on a social media debate Thursday in defense of famed “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling over biological men in female spaces.
Rowling responded to an
Rowling sarcastically wrote in response to Hodges: “A man explaining to women that they should pretend that some of their peers are women because that’s ‘respectful’ is exactly what this debate needed. Thank you for your bravery.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
“Harry Potter” author JK Rowling said on X this week that she is not interested in reconciling with actress Emma Watson over their political differences. (SOPA/Getty Images)
Rowling later wrote: “What you and many other men don’t understand, possibly because you are so used to women coddling men’s feelings that you see it as the natural order of things, is that while a trans-identified man is absolutely and correctly free to dress and refer to himself as he wants in our society, that doesn’t give him rights over women’s beliefs and speech.
“I do not believe that a man literally becomes a woman when he identifies as such, and since I have freedom of speech, I have the right to call him a man. The verifiable truth of sex forms the legal basis for women’s rights and for their safeguarding. Nothing reveals more your inability to understand this issue, or your fundamental sexism, than the fact that you, a man, are assuming the right to dictate to women how they should talk about men.”
Another user then responded to Rowling, arguing that the issue of trans people invading women’s spaces is a “fringe issue.”
Navratilova then entered the debate in defense of Rowling.
“Marginal for you perhaps. Not so marginal for women who are affected by men in spaces based on women’s sex. Forced speech is also not okay,” Navratilova wrote.
AOC torn apart by female sports activists in response to ‘Transgender Awareness Week’ post
Tennis legend and women’s rights activist Martina Navratilova criticized the New York Times for a controversial depiction of biological women. (Ángel Martínez/Getty Images for Laureus)
Navratilova has been a polarizing figure on social media for her conflicted support for liberals and her opposition to Trump. He regularly criticizes Democrats for allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports.
Last December, she said she was “crazy” because Republicans had addressed the nationwide controversy over trans athletes in women’s sports instead of Democrats.
“And I’m so angry that the republicans I got this point: shame on all the elected Democrats who are silent about this!!! #whataboutthewomen,” she wrote on X.
The tennis legend appeared at the Independent Women’s Forum’s Take Back Title IX rally in June to address the issue.
“Initially, as Democrats and women for the most part, we in this group were trying to find every possible way to include trans-identified men, men who identify as women, in women’s sports” he said. “And the more we try to find a way to mitigate the advantage, to harm, to include in some way, the more we realize that it is not possible. It cannot be done fairly and we are in a very different position here.
“As I delved deeper into the topic, I also saw the connection between women’s sex-based spaces and women’s sports. They are totally interconnected, and I’m sure Penn swimmers could tell you all about that. You’ve already heard about Lia Tomasgood?
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
Martina Navratilova in September 2022 in Flushing, Queens, New York. (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
“Now it’s, ‘Oh, you’re homophobic.'” Imagine. I’ve been out since ’81. Yeah, I’m homophobic,” she said, rolling her eyes. “‘You’re a bigot, you’re a transphobe, you’re a Nazi, you’re a fascist, you’re a communist,’ everything and everything else. And this comes from the left. I am the left! My people are turning against me. “They are turning against us women who defend women’s rights based on sex.”
