RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The debate over transgender athletes' participation in sports reached tennis this week when the Women's Tennis Association changed its eligibility policy to require genetic sex testing for all players. But in professional tennis history, there's only been one openly transgender player: Renée Richards.
Richards became the first out trans professional athlete in the United States when she successfully sued for her right to compete as a woman in the 1977 U.S. Open. Richards played professional tennis for five years and then returned to her ophthalmology practice, which she retired from a few years ago.
And yet, as the battle over transgender athlete rights grab the political and cultural spotlight, Richards' story is often forgotten, said Julie Kliegman, the author of a forthcoming biography titled, "Finding Renée Richards: The Groundbreaking Story of Tennis’s Trans Pioneer."
"She's been mostly watching it from the sidelines, which is really interesting because she has this experience that basically no one else has," Kliegman said. "Part of her wants it that way, but also, I think it can be sort of frustrating because she has this wealth or knowledge and experience and isn't always included in these conversations or even remembered, as far as her legacy goes."
Renée Richards' path moved from lawsuit to acceptance
Richards, now 91, surgically transitioned in 1975. After she was publicly outed, the WTA, the United States Tennis Association and the United States Open Committee began requiring female competitors to verify their sex with a chromosomal test called a Barr body test. Richards refused to take the test before the 1976 U.S. Open, wasn't allowed to play and sued.
A federal judge granted Richards an injunction that allowed her to play in the 1977 U.S. Open. Richards lost in the first round of the singles draw but made it to the doubles final with partner Betty Ann Stuart. That remained the highest achievement of her career, which peaked at a ranking of No. 20 on the singles tour.
"She was good, but she wasn't this dominant force who was beating Chrissy Evert and Billie Jean King and Martina (Navratilova) with any regularity," Kliegman said. "I mean, she was just a player on tour."
Kliegman said that King's leadership helped Richards be accepted in tennis after the ruling. While there was some backlash — a handful of players wore T-shirts protesting Richards' inclusion and one of Richards' opponents was pulled from a match by her coach — most players on tour had no problem with Richards.
"Her acceptance on tour ended up being pretty widely uncontroversial after the lawsuit victory," Kliegman said. "I think that bad actors who are leading these conversations now about trans athlete eligibility may not want to acknowledge that there was a time when this was relatively uncontroversial."
Kliegman's book, which releases Aug. 18, explores Richards' life before and after her transition. Richards sat for multiple interviews for the book but had no say over its contents.
"The book is a biography of her. To a certain extent, it's also about my relationship to her as a non-binary and trans person myself," Kliegman said. "And I think it also connects everything to this current political climate we're in where trans athletes are under attack."
Transgender bans, gene testing spread across sports world
As President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers push to restrict transgender participation in U.S. athletics, sports organizations across the globe are reversing previously inclusive policies. The International Olympic Committee announced in March that female athletes will be required to take an SRY gene test to determine their eligibility for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, reviving a policy it tried and abandoned in 1999 over concerns about inaccuracies and costs. The WTA plans to use the same SRY gene test to screen tennis players, despite critics citing evidence that such testing can harm intersex and cisgender women.
On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that U.S. states can ban transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams. This month, WNBA player Sophie Cunningham made headlines when she said she doesn't believe trans people should be allowed in women's sports.
Perhaps surprisingly, that's an opinion Richards shares.
"Renée has done a 180 since her own playing days," Kliegman said. "She no longer believes that trans women and girls, for the most part, should participate in women's and girls' sports alongside cisgender athletes. The exception she carves out is for girls who have not undergone male puberty, so to speak."
Richards declined USA TODAY's request for an interview.
After Richards retired from playing, she coached Navratilova to two Wimbledon titles in 1982 and 1983. Navratilova is now fiercely vocal about keeping trans people out of sports. According to Kliegman, Richards and Navratilova maintain an ongoing friendship even though, "Martina uses language that Renée would not about biological males and people cheating in sports."
Since Richards, there hasn't been another openly transgender player in professional tennis. That fact hasn't stopped the WTA from reinstating testing similar to the kind Richards fought against decades ago.
"It certainly rhymes with everything that happened 50 years ago, which is kind of wild to think about," Kliegman said. "Renée is a complex figure with nuanced views on these subjects and I think we would all be better off if we remembered her story."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Renée Richards defeated a tennis trans ban in the 1970s. Now she supports it.
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