Tennis legend Martina Navratilova wasn’t happy with a video showing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland discussing “how places such as Stonewall are important to telling America’s story” with drag queen and activist Pattie Gonia.
Haaland was seen standing with Gonia outside the Stonewall National Monument in New York City in the short clip, which was shared by Haaland Monday on X.
“Is this a joke?” Navratilova wrote in a post responding to the video. “The pathetic parody of women continues.”
The 18-time Grand Slam winner also fired back at one X user who wrote: “Butch lesbians always faced the same derision. ‘Not really a woman.’
“We should all embrace each other. And this is a drag queen, not a trans person. They’re certainly not trying to pass for female!”
Navratilova, 66, responded by writing: “And how exactly are we supposed to know the difference? And please do not compare males to butch females. Thank you.”
Haaland has yet to address Navratilova’s post publicly.
Navratilova went back and forth with others in separate posts, writing: “And you will never convince me to stop fighting for equal rights for women – thank you.”
The Czech-American — who’s previously taken issue with transgender women competing in female sports — also hit back at another X user that called her a bigot.
“Again- if protecting women’s sex based spaces makes a bigot, then I am a bigot,” Navratilova replied. “And thank you for caring about women.
“Btw- I support trans men competing in men’s sports or women’s sports if they don’t take any drugs. Trans women cannot compete against women- it’s called biology.”
Haaland shared in her post that she spoke with Gonia to celebrate LGBT History Month.
“I think it’s because queer rights are more under attack than ever,” Gonia said in the video. “And I think if we don’t acknowledge the past, we’re bound to repeat. So, at a place like Stonewall, this beautiful place, it’s a place where so much discrimination and hatred occurred against the queer community, but it’s also a place where resistance and queer joy and queer liberation happened.
“And I think that is worth celebrating and commemorating. So, I think that we need to not ignore hate as it exists today. We need to acknowledge it because it’s not just our past, but it’s our present. And we need to work together to build a more equitable and just future.”
Navratilova made headlines earlier this week when she discussed her cancer journey during an appearance on “Today” in New York.
The former pro, who is now cancer free, battled throat and breast cancer at the same time, and explained how she leaned on her former rival, Chris Evert, who also went through a similar experience.
Evert learned she had stage 1 ovarian cancer in December 2021, and announced she was cancer-free in January 2023.
“(Chris and I) went through the same thing essentially emotionally, and we spoke to each other and realized how much that mentality that champions mentality … helped us get through this,” Navratilova said. “You have to stay positive in the moment. You have to stay in the solution.
“We have just been so intertwined. … I was there for her when Chris went through it, and then she was there for me,” she continued. “It was amazing. There was like a (thing) where when I was really feeling at my lowest — there was Chris either a text or call.”