The day Martina Navratilova came out of the closet
Learn about how Martina Navratilova came out. We look at the iconic athete, her activism on LGBTQ+ rights and more.
2024-01-29T23:18:39+00:00
- How Martina Navratilova came out.
- She is a tireless activist.
- She’s been criticized for her remarks about trans athletes.
Martina Navratilova is one of the most successful tennis players of all time. Simply put, she won Wimbledon nine times.
She was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on October 18, 1956 and the successful athlete became a naturalized American citizen in 1975.
In 2006 she met Julia Lemigova and they were married in 2014. Together, they raised Julia’s two daughters from a previous marriage.
In several interviews, former tennis player Martina Navratilova, who overcame throat and breast cancer last year, recalled the day she came out.
She has dated both men and women
PHOTO: Instagram
According to her book Being Myself, former tennis player Martina Navratilova was attracted to both men and women.
It wasn’t until the age of 18 that she had her first relationship with a woman, although she was in love with a man.
Her parents, especially her father, were upset when they learned about her sexual orientation. Her father believed it was an ‘illness.’
To make matters worse, he said that he would have preferred his daughter be a prostitute, which he has been harshly criticized for.
How Martina Navratilova came out
Martina Navratilova stated that in her home country, gay people were sent to insane asylums.
She also said that lesbians never publicly came out. However, in 1981, after becoming a U.S. citizen, that she publicly revealed her sexual orientation.
From 1983 to 1991, she was in a relationship with renowned writer Judy Nelson, who would later sue her for alimony.
Later on, she dated fellow writer Rita Mae Brown, a feminist activist fighting for LGBTQ+ rights.
Martina Navratilova joked about her heterosexual past
In 2000 Martina Navratilova made an unexpected special appearance on the hit show Will & Grace.
On the show, the former tennis player briefly recalled being heterosexual until she had a relationship with one of the show’s characters, Karen Walker, thus coming out as a lesbian.
She frequently works with various charity organizations promoting LGBTQ+ rights, disadvantaged children and animals.
For this reason, she received an award from the Human Rights Campaign in 2002. She is also recogniized for opposing communism.
‘Saying I was a lesbian was quite easy’
In an interview with The Mercury, Martina Navratilova said that saying she was a lesbian was quite easy.
«I didn’t think there were people who wouldn’t like me for that and that my life could become complicated. Nobody ever told me that being a lesbian would prevent me from playing tennis.»
However, publicly coming out was difficult, as she was mocked and insulted by some people: «It was depressing and stressful.»
She also stated that if she had stayed in the closet, she would have received much more praise in the tennis world.
Martina Navratilova is not immune to controversy
On the other hand, Martina Navratilova has not escaped controversy since retiring from tennis.
In 2019, in an op-ed published in The Sunday Times, according to Emol, she was vocal about being against trans women participating in sports.
«A man can decide to be a woman, take hormones if required by any sports organization, and win everything in sight.»
She also commented that trans women, after making a small fortune, could reverse their decision and have babies again: «It’s crazy, and it’s cheating.»


