Tennis legend Martina Navratilova shared her thoughts on social media after learning about a controversial retirement policy in the US Air Force. According to Reuters’ National Security reporter Phil Stewart, transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of military service are being denied early retirement and stripped of their benefits.
According to an internal memo dated August 4, these service members are given the same option as those with fewer years. Stewart wrote:
“These longer-serving transgender service members will have the same choice as more junior ones: quit or be forced out, with corresponding lump sum payments as they walk out the door, the Aug. 4 memo says.”
@phildstewart
Exclusive – (Reuters) – The U.S. Air Force is denying early retirement to all transgender service members with between 15 and 18 years of military service, opting instead to kick them out with no retirement benefits, according to a memo seen by Reuters. These longer-serving
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Navratilova, who has long been a vocal voice on issues of gender and equality, found it "utterly graceful." She wrote:
"And this is utterly disgraceful. Did they do their job???? That is the only thing that should matter."
Martina Navratilova has always been outspoken about issues that address unfairness that is based on one's identity in terms of race, gender, and equality.
Martina Navratilova shared her thoughts on transgender womens' participation in women's tennis
The participation of transgender females in women's sports has become a hot topic of late. The debate has also started in the tennis world after the WTA accepted participation of transgender females in women's events, with a predefined condition that the individual needs to declare female gender identity and maintain low testosterone levels for a specified time period.
During an interview with the BBC, Navratilova described it as a "mistake" to allow transgender women to compete under the current guidelines. She cited a study to call out the alleged unfairness.
“I think it’s a mistake,” Martina Navratilova said. “There have been studies showing that after fifteen years of hormone therapy, male bodies still have a 20% advantage over female bodies. That's a huge difference in sports. You can't compete with that. It's a huge advantage."
“Male bodies have to play in men's sports," she added. "They have to play in the right category, which is men's, it's that simple. But including male bodies in women's tournaments means a woman is left out of the tournament so a man can play.”
The former tennis player also referred to a recent UK Supreme Court ruling that legally defines "woman" based on biological sex. Navratilova urges the WTA to adopt the same classification. It remains to be seen if any such decision will be made by the tennis body after hearing calls of unfairness from several fronts.
