Where are all the gay and trans people in tennis?
Following on from my LGBT+
History Month blog post this time last year and an article in which Djokovic
highlights the complete invisibility of gay men on the ATP Tour1, I would
like to ask, why is there such a low percentage of current lesbian and bi
players on the WTA (and none of the current top women players are openly gay)?
In addition, apart from Renee
Richards (who hung up her racquet back in 1981, never having won a title in 4 years
of professional tennis), where are the trans tennis players? This is despite
the LTA issuing guidelines2 on how GB tennis can create an inclusive
and welcoming environment for trans and transgender players, as well as all those
who work in the sport and spectators, in line with the Equality Act 2010. Unlike
the common usage of the term transgender, which encompasses a variety of gender
identities, it appears that the LTA’s definition of trans specifies people who are
at any stage of the gender reassignment stage, which includes those who are “proposing
to undergo…”3.1 reassignment but haven’t started the medical process
yet. Furthermore, in point 5, the LTA goes on to write that “there are no
safety concerns for any trans male or female who wish to take part” in the
sport at any level3.2. The LTA is thus acknowledging that trans women are
not predatory or a safety threat to other women, as some women and feminists inappropriately
claim and propagate as a stereotype of trans women. This has also been a discriminatory
myth aimed at lesbians, which is why the lesbian community should, and largely
does, empathise with trans women and support them in calling it out and fighting
such injustices. Hence, I support the LTA’s stance that trans people may use
the toilet and changing room facilities of the gender with which they identify.
Addressing the issue of fairness
(a topic which has come up in the press recently) the LTA quite rightly takes
the position that trans women are being sincere about their status and are not
attempting to have an unfair advantage in competitive tennis. This means that
everyone should accept that this is the case, not question the players’ gender self-identification
and not ask for any extra ID. Anyone wishing to challenge a trans person’s
gender identity must provide strong evidence for their claim. However, given
recent trans rights debates, I can see how claims about trans women’s “strength,
stamina and physique”4 can be open to abuse.
Discussions about
cisgender (those whose gender self-identification matches their sex assigned at
birth) people’s, especially women’s, physiques are often riddled with gender
stereotypes and prejudices and can cause bodily self-image and self-esteem
issues in those whose physiques don’t conform to pre-conceived gender expectations
of others. Back in 1999, when Mauresmo took
the courageous step of coming out as a lesbian, she had to deal with adverse comments
about her strength, physique and style of play being akin to a man. I have
watched Mauresmo play throughout her WTA career, both on TV and at tournaments,
and in no way does she or her playing style remotely resemble a man’s! She’s
not only attractive but her style of tennis was non-aggressive and, like Jana
Novotna, very creative, thus the opposite of a stereotypically masculine style
of play. She had a backhand to die for! Mauresmo has gone on to become a very
successful coach to both men and women, in addition to having children. She’s
not a trans woman yet, like Serena Williams, was on the receiving end of negative
comments about her muscular body. So it’s not specifically the LGBT+ community
which alone is subject to gender stereotypes about physical strength and
appearance. Racism also perpetuates stereotypes, myths and bias about women’s
bodies5. So what chance do trans women have of escaping such
adversely negative labelling? As for stamina, women have been shown to have more
stamina than men. Therefore I think that’s an irrelevant potential concern
about trans women tennis players.
It is commonly claimed that possessing
male bodily features, or even just having spent time growing up in a male body,
gives a trans woman a competitive edge. Indeed, trans woman Renee Richards has appeared
to backtrack by later asserting that being a trans woman does give you an
advantage over other women. She thinks she was merely less successful because
she was much older than her opponents. However, this is pure conjecture. More
recently, in the UK, Zach Brookes, a trans man inspired by Renee Richards, beat
male tennis players even though he hadn’t transitioned yet and so was "still
physically female”6. This surely busts the myth that having a male
physique always gives you an unassailable advantage over female physiques! As
was noted at the French Open 2017 on her way to winning the title, Ostapenko
was hitting ground strokes as hard as top male tennis players.
So why do such sexist assumptions
still persist? It’s time to move on from these binary gender stereotypes which
are based on social constructs, not unbiased biological facts about sexual
difference. By conflating gender with sex difference, it both ignores non-binary
people and limits all women, including ciswomen, by placing an artificial gender
expectation ceiling on their potential capabilities and achievements.
It’s also time to actively promote
and encourage trans people to follow Zach Brookes’ example and become tennis players
and coaches. Brookes is a modern day role model and activist for trans tennis players
and all trans athletes7.
3.1; 3.2 ibid p2
4ibid p3
7For more on Brookes,
see:
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