"In the latter part of the 20th century, I was perhaps the most notorious person in the world who had become a woman after growing up a boy and then a man. My fame came after I sued the tennis organizations, successfully, to be allowed to compete as a woman professional in the U.S. Open Tennis championships in 1977. I became in an instant a pioneer for sexually disenfranchised people. After playing on the professional tour for five years, I coached all-time champion Martina Navratilova to several major championships and then returned to my main occupation of eye surgeon and physician. I wrote one textbook on eye muscle surgery, but I am better known for my two autobiographies, Second Serve and No Way Renée. In the present century I am hardly known in the public world at all, save for a few tennis fans who recognize and greet me at the U.S. Open every summer.
"My use of terminology differs a bit from the current trend. I prefer 'transsexual' to 'transgender,' and 'sex change' to 'gender change.' I consider 'sex' to be a much more concrete word than 'gender.' I definitely had a sex change, but even so I have a mixture of gender characteristics. This is true not just of transsexuals, but of all people. As a physician, I am serious about accuracy in medical matters, and I use the terms that I consider most clearly descriptive."
Dr. Renee Richards is the author of:
Second Serve (1983)
No Way Renee (2007)
Spy Night and Other Memories (2014)
1999: An Eye-Opening Medical Memoir (2021)
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