Renée Richards (born August 19, 1934) is an American ophthalmologist and former tennis player who competed on the professional circuit in the 1970s, and became widely known following male-to-female medical affirmation, when she fought to compete as a woman in the 1976 US Open. The United States Tennis Association began requiring genetic screening for female players that year. Richards challenged that policy, and the New York Supreme Court ruled in her favor, a landmark case in transgender rights. Among the first professional athletes to transition, she became a spokesperson for transgender people in sports. After retiring from play, she coached Martina Navratilova to two Wimbledon titles (1982 and 1983).
Early life Richards was born Richard Raskind on August 19, 1934, in New York City and raised, as she put it, as "a nice Jewish boy" in Forest Hills, Queens. Her father David Raskind was an orthopedic surgeon, and her mother was one of the first female psychiatrists in the United States, in addition to being a professor at Columbia University. Richards attended Horace Mann School and excelled as a wide receiver for the football team, a pitcher for the baseball team, and on the tennis and swim teams. Her baseball skills even led to an invitation to join the New York Yankees, but she decided to focus on tennis. After high school Richards attended Yale University and was captain of the men's tennis team, and was considered by some to be one of the best college tennis players in the country. After graduating from Yale in 1955, she went to the University of Rochester Medical Center and later specialized in ophthalmology by completing an ophthalmology residency, graduating in 1959 and serving a two-year internship at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. After an internship, she served two years of residency at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital in New York. She played competitive tennis for a while and was ranked sixth out of the top 20 males over 35. After an internship and residency, she joined the United States Navy to continue medical training and played tennis in the Navy. While serving in the Navy, she won both the singles and doubles at the All Navy Championship, with a very effective left-hand serve. During this time she was ranked as high as fourth in the region.
Transition During college Richards began dressing as a woman, which at the time was considered to be a perversion, with transsexualism classified as a form of insanity. Richards named her female persona "Renée", which is French for "reborn". Her struggle with gender identity created sexual confusion, depression, and suicidal tendencies. She began seeing Dr. Charles Ihlenfeld, a disciple of Harry Benjamin who specialized in endocrinology, transsexualism, and sexual reassignment. Upon seeing Ihlenfeld she began getting hormone injections with the long-term hope for a life change. In the mid-1960s she traveled in Europe dressed as a woman, intending to go to North Africa to see Georges Burou, a famous gynecological surgeon at Clinique Parc in Casablanca, Morocco, regarding sex reassignment surgery; however, she ultimately decided against it and returned to New York. Richards married model Barbara Mole in June 1970, and together they had a son Nicholas in 1972. They were divorced in 1975. In the early 1970s, Richards resolved to undergo sex reassignment and was referred to surgeon Roberto C. Granato Sr. by Harry Benjamin, transitioning in 1975. (Granato had practiced in Argentina in the 1950s but had moved his practice to New York in the 1960s.) After surgery, Richards went to Newport Beach, California, and started working as an ophthalmologist in practice with another doctor.
Court case In 1976, Richards's gender reassignment was outed by local TV anchor Richard Carlson, the father of Tucker Carlson. Subsequently, the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and the United States Open Committee (USOC) required all female competitors to verify their sex with a Barr body test of their chromosomes. Richards applied to play in the US Open in 1976 as a woman, but refused to take the test, and thus was not allowed to compete in the Open, Wimbledon, or the Italian Open in the summer of 1976. Richards then sued the United States Tennis Association (USTA), which runs the US Open, in New York state court, alleging discrimination by gender in violation of the New York Human Rights Law. She asserted that participating in the tournament would constitute "an acceptance of her right to be a woman." Some USTA members felt that others would undergo sex change to enter women's tennis. Sports Illustrated called Richards an "extraordinary spectacle", and characterized reactions to her as "varying from astonishment to suspicion, sympathy, resentment, and more often than not, utter confusion." The USOC stated "there is competitive advantage for a male who has undergone a sex change surgery as a result of physical training and development as a male." Richards finally agreed to take the Barr body test. The test results were ambiguous. She refused to take it again and was barred from play. On August 16, 1977, Judge Alfred M. Ascione found in Richards's favor. He ruled: "This person is now a female" and that requiring Richards to pass the Barr body test was "grossly unfair, discriminatory and inequitable, and a violation of her rights." He further ruled that the USTA intentionally discriminated against Richards, and granted Richards an injunction against the USTA and the USOC, allowing her to play in the US Open. On September 1, 1977, Richards lost to Virginia Wade in the first round of the singles competition. Partnered with Betty Ann Stuart, Richards made it to the finals in doubles; Richards and Stuart lost the finals to Martina Navratilova and Betty Stöve.
Tennis career after transitioning
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