Bobby Domino
10-05-2011, 12:32 AM
I just saw a trailer for it. This series on ESPN, 30 for 30, does a great job.
A little history I pulled up off the interweb of Renée's story:
Thirty-five years ago, Renée Richards became an unofficial spokeswoman for the transgender movement when her legal battle to play as a woman in the U.S. Open garnered headlines across the globe.
Richard Raskind was an accomplished athlete all his life, playing tennis throughout his college career at Yale and while serving in the Navy. But Raskind saw something quite different when he looked in the mirror - a woman he called Renee. After an early attempt to live as a woman failed, Raskind married and fathered a son before realizing, in 1974, that he could not continue living as a man.
After surgery, and a nasty divorce, Raskind, now Renee Richards, left her son and a thriving New York practice for the West Coast. She began playing tennis again, quickly winning an amateur competition. The revelation of Richards' past caused a public uproar, with some women players refusing to meet "a man" on the court and tennis watchers worrying that gender reassignment would be the next step in performance-enhancement. The United States Tennis Association banned Richards from play, and she became a cause celebre, fighting the ban until it was declared illegal by the New York State Supreme Court.
It is premiering today, Oct 4, on ESPN at 8pm EST. For members outside of the USA, you might be able to catch it online, if not, I will look for a torrent site, so you can download it.
FYI
A little history I pulled up off the interweb of Renée's story:
Thirty-five years ago, Renée Richards became an unofficial spokeswoman for the transgender movement when her legal battle to play as a woman in the U.S. Open garnered headlines across the globe.
Richard Raskind was an accomplished athlete all his life, playing tennis throughout his college career at Yale and while serving in the Navy. But Raskind saw something quite different when he looked in the mirror - a woman he called Renee. After an early attempt to live as a woman failed, Raskind married and fathered a son before realizing, in 1974, that he could not continue living as a man.
After surgery, and a nasty divorce, Raskind, now Renee Richards, left her son and a thriving New York practice for the West Coast. She began playing tennis again, quickly winning an amateur competition. The revelation of Richards' past caused a public uproar, with some women players refusing to meet "a man" on the court and tennis watchers worrying that gender reassignment would be the next step in performance-enhancement. The United States Tennis Association banned Richards from play, and she became a cause celebre, fighting the ban until it was declared illegal by the New York State Supreme Court.
It is premiering today, Oct 4, on ESPN at 8pm EST. For members outside of the USA, you might be able to catch it online, if not, I will look for a torrent site, so you can download it.
FYI