This summer, the Supreme Court allowed states to ban transgender athletes from competition. But decades earlier, another court case laid important groundwork for trans rights in sports—the 1977 New York case that allowed transgender tennis player Renee Richards to compete in the US Open.
“Finding Renee Richards: The Groundbreaking Story of Tennis’s Trans Pioneer”, coming out August 18th, chronicles this pivotal moment while exploring the complicated evolution of one of the first openly transgender professional athletes in the United States.
Author Julie Kliegman, whose writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and Slate, spent considerable time understanding how Richards wanted her story told—including specific preferences about names and pronouns that reflect the terminology of different eras.
Please note: Following Richards’ request, Kliegman used both Richards’ current name and deadname, as well as pre-gender affirmation pronouns. We follow that here to respect Richards’ original request.
Watch Our Interview
Outed Against Her Will
Renee Richards started playing tennis at a young age. She was addicted to it Kliegman explained. It was her life’s biggest passion.
Richards’ path to the US Open began with unwanted exposure. Tucker Carlson’s father, Richard Carlson—a local San Diego television reporter—broke the story and outed her in 1976. Despite her request that he drop it.
His salacious headline was that she was a man masquerading as a woman. A line of attack previewing what his son would do at FOX News in years to come.
Following the story’s publication, Richards faced a crossroads: return quietly to her ophthalmology career or fight to compete professionally. Kliegman explained that letters poured in from marginalized communities expressing support, leading Richards to believe she was fighting for trans people and other marginalized folks more broadly.
The Chromosomal Test Controversy
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) initially refused Richards’ entry to the 1976 US Open and demanded she undergo a chromosomal test. Known colloquially as the “bar test,” it was a cheek swab designed to determine sex chromosomes—a test previously adopted by the Olympics and track and field.
She didn’t want to do that. “I think on a certain level she knew she probably wouldn’t pass the test. And she just was like, I don’t feel like I should have to submit to that,” Kliegman said.
After months of mixed success in other tournaments Richards filed a lawsuit. And none other than Billie Jean King wrote to the court stating Richards does not enjoy physical superiority or strength so as to have an advantage over women competitors in the sport of tennis.
A Limited Victory
The New York State Supreme Court ruled in Richards’ favor in 1977, allowing her to compete. However, the ruling proved narrower than many assumed.
“It really applied specifically to Renee Richards and says that, ‘Hey, we’ve decided she’s enough of a woman in enough respects, she can play. We’ve decided she is not a threat to the integrity of sports,'” Kliegman said, paraphrasing the court’s reasoning.
At the 1977 US Open, Richards lost in the first round of singles competition but reached the doubles finals with a partner before losing to Martina Navratilova and Julie Lemigova (her future wife).
A Surprising 180-Degree Turn
Perhaps the most unexpected element of Kliegman’s research emerged when she discovered Richards’ current stance on transgender participation in women’s sports—the very arena Richards fought to enter decades earlier.
“Renee has totally done a 180 […] Renee feels like in most cases, trans women and girls should not be able to compete alongside cisgender women and girls. And not only that, but Renee also regrets her specific lawsuit,” Kliegman said.
Richards attributes her shift to a late-1970s match, in the 35-and-over division, where she claims she dominated a significantly younger opponent. This raised in her mind the question about unfair physical advantages.
Martina Navratilova, Richards’ doubles opponent-turned-coach, holds similarly controversial positions. Though openly gay and anti-Trump, Navratilova expresses anti-trans views including arguments about trans women being predators in locker rooms.
Historical Parallels Ignored
Kliegman discovered compelling parallels between arguments used against Richards and those historically deployed against Black athletes. In researching the case, she found a New York Times letter drawing explicit connections between the two discrimination patterns.
“It’s just so heavily politicized in a way that some people out there, I’m sure, still believe incorrectly that people of different races have certain competitive advantages in sports, but it’s not a widely held opinion anymore. It’s a very publicly frowned upon opinion,” Kliegman observed.
The argument remains cherry-picking facts to kind of support your preexisting notions about trans people. An example of which is Michael Phelps’ swimming body structure—an advantageous physique that doesn’t result in disqualification.
Writing with Generational Awareness
As a non-binary trans 30-something author documenting Richards’ story at age 91, Kliegman navigated significant generational divides in understanding identity, language, and activism across time periods.
“One of the things I want to do is invite nuance into this conversation. Trans elders, trans people in general do not all feel the same way about every issue,” Kliegman said.
Richards’ story continues evolving as legislation targeting transgender athletes proliferates nationwide. While current bans overwhelmingly focus on trans women, Kliegman’s research reveals lawmakers often lack clarity about how their language affects trans boys and men equally.
“Many of these bills were drafted by the Alliance Defending Freedom or these outside groups. And so I think some of them take this wording given to them. But the gist of what they want to do is quote unquote, again, protecting women’s sports. And so they don’t necessarily feel like trans boys or men are a threat in the same way,” Kliegman said.
Legacy and Lessons Forward
As sports policy debates intensify across the country, Richards’ pioneering legal victory and subsequent ideological reversal serve as reminders that individual experiences don’t represent entire communities. Trans people maintain diverse perspectives on rights, inclusion, and competition—even those who once fought battles for access themselves.
For Kliegman, documenting this complexity honors both Richards’ historical importance and contemporary reality. Trans elders do not all feel the same way about every issue, and recognizing that nuance becomes essential as new generations face similar fights for recognition and dignity in athletics and beyond.
The book is titled “Finding Renée Richards: The Groundbreaking Story of Tennis’s Trans Pioneer.” It comes out on August 18. Connect with Julie at https://juliekliegman.com.
