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Renee Richards
In 1976, Renee Richards was primed to be in the U.S. Open when judges learned she had been born male. The United States Tennis Association attempted to ban her, citing a women-born-women policy, but Richards filed suit and, in a landmark case, the New York Supreme Court ruled in her favor.
Despite the victory, Richards endured public scrutiny, the loss of family and friends, and brutal discrimination from the tennis world.
“[It] didn’t stop the WTA from trying to Richards her from pro tournaments until she sued, or 25 of the 32 women in the field from withdrawing from the first tournament she played, at age 41. Crowds rooted against her,” ESPN writes. “If Richards turned on a TV at the time, she could’ve found Johnny Carson and Bob Hope snickering on The Tonight Show that Richards was her own “mixed doubles team”
Eventually Richards left tennis and returned to a successful ophthalmology practice in California, but her very public battle blazed a trail for future trans athletes like MMA fighter Fallon Fox and NCAA basketball player Kye Allums.
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