03 Jul Martina Navratilova claims LGBT community ‘jettisoned’ her

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova said she has been ‘jettisoned’ by much of the LGBT community for speaking up in the debate about trans women competing in women’s sport.

The nine-time Wimbledon champion, who is gay, admitted she has had a ‘rough’ time of it but vowed to ‘keep fighting’ to protect women’s sport and single-sex spaces.

‘I’ve been jettisoned by a lot of the groups in the LGBT community. But, you know, I’ve been speaking my mind for a long time. I’m not going to change that,’ she said.

‘Yes, it’s been pretty rough. But I know I’m on the right side of history. I’m right on most people’s opinion about women’s sex-based spaces, and especially sports. They need to stay female.’

She warned that the issue had become ‘very political’ and said that trans rights were being put ‘ahead of women’s rights, particularly for males that identify as women’.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova admitted she had a ‘rough’ time but vowed to ‘keep fighting’ for women’s sports

The 67-year-old is a nine-time Wimbledon champion

Navratilova said: ‘I’ve been jettisoned by a lot of the groups in the LGBT community’

Parade-goers during Pride in London on June 29

The 67-year-old added: ‘Women are asked to be kind and be inclusive, yet by including transgender-identified males in women’s sports, you’re excluding women.

‘Anyway, it’s a long story. I won’t go into too many details. Yeah, it’s been pretty rough in the LGBT community.’

The star was speaking on the eve of this year’s Championships in a Press conference with former rival Chris Evert.

The tennis greats, who said they became close friends after getting cancer at the same time, are working on a new documentary together.

‘Cancer brought us much closer together, which is kind of ironic that something like that would be kind of a blessing in a way,’ Ms Navratilova said.

Wimbledon