The former Czech–American tennis player, Martina Navratilova has often dazzled the entire tennis community with her on-court prowess and domination. Apart from that, the 18-time singles Grand Slam champion has also been praised for her social welfare initiatives. Being a lesbian herself, Navratilova has consistently shown a great level of support and respect for the LGBT community. However, she also faced a great deal of criticism and backlash because of her sexuality.

The Hall of Famer further lost a number of endorsement deals and a slew of fans when she came out of the closet. Talking about the same, Navratilova once revealed that she never moved away from her objective of working for the LGBT movement despite facing criticism.

Martina Navratilova previously talked about the LGBT movement

The Czech–American tennis legend was previously featured in an interview with her close friend, Chris Evert. Evert praised Martina Navratilova for using her platform to address a number of social issues. Evert further asked her friend about the initiative that was closest to her heart. Navratilova answered by saying that it was the LGBT gay and lesbian movement in the 80s.

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However, she also said “it was not a good idea to do so” during that period. The former tennis player went on to say that she lost a lot of endorsements because of that. She further lost a huge fanbase because of her sexuality. The fans also booed her when she walked on the court and it had nothing to do with her tennis.

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The tennis legend said that it was disappointing.

However, Navratilova added, “overall, it was a very freeing thing to do. and I knew I couldn’t I couldn’t be pretending to be anything else. But I think looking back, I didn’t realize what an impact it had on other people’s lives in a good way. so I’m very proud of that. being able to help others without ever having met them.”

Navratilova once talked about tackling criticism over her sexuality

Even during the 80s, the former tennis player never shied away from addressing a number of bold topics related to sexuality. She was treated differently by the tennis community after she came out of the closet. There were some jeers and boos when Navratilova played on the court after revealing her sexuality.

However, the Hall of Famer never let those naysayers affect her performances on the court. She previously revealed about being unbothered by those critics and haters. Navratilova stated that she always loved tennis and she only kept her focus on her game rather than on those critics. Notably, she has clinched 18 singles Grand Slam titles after tackling all those criticism.

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