Martina Navratilova slams the ‘pathetic parody of women’ after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland posts video with drag queen Pattie Gonia

Martina Navratilova last night blasted a video of US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaking with drag queen Pattie Gonia at the Stonewall monument in New York City as “a joke” and a “pathetic parody of women.”

The tennis legend, who has long been seen as a symbol for gay and lesbian rights, responded to the video posted by the Home Secretary’s official social media account for LGBT History Month.

In it, Haaland is seen asking the drag queen, dressed in a park ranger shirt, miniskirt and knee-high boots, about the importance of the Stonewall Monument.

“I think this is because gay rights are under attack more than ever,” Gonia said.

“At a place like Stonewall, this beautiful place, it’s a place where so much discrimination and hatred happened against the queer community, but it’s also a place where resistance, queer joy, and queer liberation happened.

‘I think that is worth celebrating and commemorating. So I don’t think we should ignore the hatred that exists today. We must recognize it because it is not only our past, but also our present.‘

But Navratilova replied: ‘Is this a joke? The pathetic parody of women continues.’

US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland shared a video with drag queen Pattie Gonia at the Stonewall monument in New York City

The tennis legend, who has long been seen as a symbol for gay and lesbian rights, responded to the video posted by the Home Secretary’s official social media account for LGBT History Month.

One Twitter user responded to Navratilova’s comment: “Butch lesbians always faced the same ridicule. ”Not really a woman.” We should all embrace each other.’

But she quickly fired back, “And how exactly are we supposed to know the difference?” And please don’t compare men to tough women. Thank you.’

Navratilova, who won eighteen Grand Slam titles and is one of the winningest women’s tennis players, was one of the first prominent athletes to openly embrace her sexual orientation, having been openly lesbian since the early 1980s.

She has long campaigned for the rights of gays and lesbians, but in recent years has rebuked the rise of biological men entering women’s sports as trans women.

She erupted in August the US Tennis Association (USTA) for its position on transgender athletes competing in women’s tennis tournaments.

It came when transgender tennis player Alicia Rowley won a national women’s tennis championship and won ‘the coveted Golden Ball’.

The Independent Council for Women’s Sport (ICONS) posted the news on Twitterstating that Rowley recently won the Women’s 55+ Grass Court National Championship and the National Indoor Singles and Doubles Championship.

The USTA states in her Transgender inclusion policy that trans athletes should be included and not excluded from playing the sport.

In response, 18-time Grand Slam champion Navratilova wrote: ‘Come on @USTA – women’s tennis is not for failed male athletes, regardless of age.

“This is not right and it is not fair. Could this be allowed at the US Open this month? Only with self-ID? I do not think so…’

Martina Navratilova after winning the women’s singles final, 1986 Wimbledon Tennis Championship

It comes after transgender tennis player Alicia Rowley became the latest national women’s tennis champion

And Navratliova responded to the ICONS co-founder on Twitter, saying: ‘This isn’t right and it’s not fair’

This is not the first time Navratilova has published her opinions on transgender athletes competing in female sports categories.

In March, she said World Athletics’ decision to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s categories was “a step in the right direction”, before calling for an “open category for all”.

In December 2022, she also responded to a tweet from fellow tennis legend Billie Jean King, who had voiced her support for trans athletes.

Jean King had written, “The Federal Court of Appeals just upheld Connecticut’s trans-inclusive athletics policy.” She added, “Trans youth deserve to play and thrive.”

“I couldn’t agree more: inclusion at the expense of exclusion is not inclusion,” Navratilova replied.

“No one is banning transgender people from competing – they just have to compete in the biological category rather than the self-ID category.

‘There are either three categories, or two categories: one open to everyone and one only for biological women. But they can compete now.”