Martina Navratilova wants Billie Jean King to explain her support for transgender athletes

Martina Navratilova is calling “foul" on her longtime friend, Billie Jean King, over the issue of transgender women’s participation in women’s sports. The two lesbian icons, who faced each other 16 times in their professional careers, have both blazed trails for human rights and supported women’s causes in sports and society. But this topic has divided them for more than five years. Their dispute began when Navratilova tweeted in 2018 that “You can’t just proclaim yourself a female and be able to compete against women," which she swiftly deleted upon being labeled transphobic. In 2020, King joined lesbian soccer icon Megan Rapinoe, queer WNBA legend Candace Parker, and the Women's Sports Foundation in declaring their support for the inclusion of trans girls in sports.Now, in an interview with OutKick, a sports and political commentary site owned by Fox Corporation, one of the tennis legends challenged the other to defend her support for transgender women athletes in light of King's other public comments about physical differences between men and women.Related: Martina Navratilova Tells Daniel Radcliffe to 'Be Quiet' on Supporting Transgender Rights"I think she thinks that they play fair and square, meaning males identify as women, take all the hormones and do everything, like Renée Richards did 50 years ago," Navratilova told Outkick. "And that it’s just nice to include everybody."As recently as April, King publicly acknowledged physical differences between men and women."The girls have never said we're better than the guys," she said. "The guys are better, by the way. They're stronger, they have a better skeletal system, their hearts are bigger. We've never said we're better than the men or as good even."King made those comments while speaking at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, where she accepted the 2026 Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award. Her remarks came during a discussion of the famous "Battle of the Sexes" match, when