“My father said he’d rather me sleep with a different guy every night” – When Martina Navratilova shared her parents’ reaction to her sexuality
Martina Navratilova came out of the closet a long time ago. But things were far tougher for her then as compared to now, since her own parents were against her sexuality.Navratilova has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, as well as 41 Major titles in doubles and mixed doubles. Her path to fame, however, had its challenges, especially in the year 1981 when the New York Daily News publicly outed her as bisexual (later gay) after she appeared for an interview with them.
The publication promised the American that they would not publish the article since there was a lot at stake. Navratilova was yet to get US citizenship and she felt that being openly homosexual would damage the reputation of the WTA Tour and cause her sponsors to drop her.However, just days after she was granted American citizenship, the New York Daily News published the article titled, ‘Martina fears Avon’s call if she talks.’ Avon was the WTA Tour’s major sponsor back then.They also used a quote that revealed Martina Navratilova’s parents’ negative reaction to her coming out.
That hurt her the most, as she told the Dallas Morning News a few days after the controversy unfolded.According to Navratilova, her father went as far as to express that he would have preferred her to be an ‘alcoholic’ or sleep with different men every night than be a part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I hope they don’t see that (quote). Then, my father said he’d rather me be an alcoholic or sleep with a different guy every night than to be what I was,” she said.
Martina Navratilova added that her parents eventually came around and accepted her for who she was.
“But that has changed. Now they have accepted it. They don’t think I’m a bad person,” the 67-year-old said.
