Martina Navratilova passes 40, finds “’till death do us part” love, and makes a million bucks for dyke charities.

Sports fans know Martina Navratilova for her 25 years of grinding tennis play. She holds the women’s all-time record for singles championships. In the mid-1980s, she was the top ranking female tennis player for all but a few weeks. She dominated Wimbledon, winning six consecutive singles titles, four U.S. Open singles championships, and scores of doubles titles. In 1992, Navratilova won her 158th professional tennis title at the Virginia Slims and set a record for career singles championships. The next year, she toppled Monica Seles in the Paris Open and established yet another record, becoming the oldest person to beat a No. 1 player in professional tennis.

Now, almost a decade later, Navratilova’s championship numbers have continued to rise on the courts — even in her semiretirement — but times have changed and people are flocking more often to see upstarts like Venus Williams rule the court. Navratilova’s fan base, however, has continued to grow — broadened from the sports aficionados to a whole new generation of young women, progressive men, and queer activists who are energized by her pro-female advertising, dyke visibility, and earnest fund-raising for gay and lesbian causes.

Spread across America are also the newest fans — the little old ladies who know her only as “the woman from the Subaru commercial.” That’s OK with the muscle-bound, Czech-born legend. She too has changed. Gone are the heady days and turbulent relationships that made tabloid headlines (Judy Nelson, Rita Mae Brown). She’s just an average over-40 lesbian with a lifetime companion and a couple of dogs who keep her on her toes. (“The dog is not quite capable of listening to commands,” she groans, stopping the interview to scold.) Nowadays, she’s as likely to talk about Golda Meir (the Russian-born former prime minister of Israel) or Shannen Doherty’s role on “Charmed” as she is to discuss the intricacies of the U.S. Open. (Just don’t get her started on “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”)

Curve: Let me ask you about tennis. There was a lot of debate about the recent Serena and Venus Williams U.S. Open final match. What are your thoughts on the game?

Navratilova: It’s just obvious that Serena can’t play her best against her sister. I don’t know why or if she can do anything about that. It’s very emotional.

Curve: Have you ever experienced something like that?

No. I’ve played against very good friends, but, you know, I never had to play my sister. She was seven years younger and she played tennis, but she didn’t compete at the pro level. It would have been difficult. I can’t imagine what they go through. The dynamic of them is really unprecedented at that level.
Curve: Much has been said about the Williams sisters being outsiders and ground-breakers in tennis. Do you feel you were also both of those things?

I may have been a ground-breaker in some ways, but I never thought of myself as an outsider, not within the tennis community, anyway … from the crowd perhaps, but not from the insiders.

Curve: Why are the players’ and crowd’s perspectives different?

Because the players accept everybody who’s there. We really don’t see color. We don’t see sexual identity. We don’t see where you’re from as far as being a communist country or a capitalist country. We just look at another player and say, “God, she’s got a really good forehand!” You know? [Laughs.] But the media sees you differently, and of course, the crowd [does]. I came from a communist country and lived here and started beating Chris [Evert] and it was freaky for them. I was thought of as this big muscular tennis player and now you see me next to Venus and Serena and I look like a little pip-squeak. Back then, I was stronger than anybody else.

Curve: Some sports commentators have called for women to start playing a five-set final at the major tournaments, instead of a three-set, because the size, strength, and conditioning of modern female athletes is equivalent to men’s. Do you agree?

Well, that’s not the reason we should play three out of five [in five-set finals]. We’ve always been fit and capable … and willing to play three out of five, but the powers that be — the tennis establishment — didn’t want us to do that. We could have been playing three out of five from day one.

Curve: And the reason this rule was established was that women played in long skirts?

No, it was just — I don’t know why. It was because they thought men could play longer and, you know, back then, they didn’t think women could run as far. They’ve only had the women’s marathon at the Olympics since 1984. It was this old bullshit established notion that women were frail, fragile, and didn’t have the endurance of men, which we know is the opposite, in fact. The longer it goes, the better women do.

Tennis is a very dynamic game and it’s hard on the guys playing three out of five sometimes — on clay, for example, or when it’s hot. I’m not sure they need to stay with the same format or if they could revisit that and change the format altogether into a different game situation where the sets aren’t as long. There’s all kinds of possibilities and they’re thinking of changing the scoring system. But women have always been wanting to play three out of five — that’s not anything new now that Venus and Serena are big and strong.

Curve: I spoke to Olympic swimmer Jenny Thompson recently about the sexualization of female athletes. Do you think female athletes are more sexualized by the media now?

Yes. I think it started in the ’70s, especially on the women’s golf tour. They tried to sexualize it all. Then it sort of settled down in the late ’70s and ’80s and the first part of the nineties. Then in the late ’90s it just became this big thing to pose nude and provocatively and all that stuff. I’m not sure where it all comes from. [The desire] to throw sexuality around.

Curve: Do you think these female athletes are taken seriously?

Yeah, they are, but I think the women athletes themselves are perpetuating it and not taking themselves seriously, saying, “Hey, I’m a great athlete, and I have skills and I’m worth watching just because of that. You don’t need to sexualize it.” At the same time, I’m not saying hide it. If you’re beautiful, flaunt it. But don’t sexualize it. I think it can get to be a bit too much.

Where do lesbians — or even straight women who defy the beauty standard as masculine, stronger women — fit into sexy-girl marketing in endorsements and sponsorships?
They never did. That’s always been there. The beautiful ones always get more attention. But the beauty of tennis is, you win because of how good you are, not because of how you look. You may not get the endorsement money, but there are very few opportunities for that anyway. Let’s face it: with the guys, they get more attention too if they’re good-looking. That’s normal. What cracks me up, though, is that the press complains that Anna Kournikova gets too much ink, but they’re the ones writing about her. Sooner or later, if you don’t back it up with your performance, people lose interest.

Curve: Speaking of advertising, have your Subaru campaigns been successful?

Absolutely! They’re the No. 1 spot they’re running in rotation and the Forester car has very well exceeded expectations and projections both years I’ve been involved with the car.

Curve: Do you hear from fans and buyers about it?

Yeah, I bump into people all the time telling me they have a Subaru and they love it or they’re thinking about getting one or “I’ve had one for seven years and I love it.” It’s funny, because a friend of mine has a shop in Pennsylvania and these women were in the store and they saw a picture of me in the store. The guy overheard their conversation and the women said, “Oh, look, there’s the woman from the Subaru ads.” That’s great: I’ve been busting my butt for 25 years on the tennis court and these women know me because I was in a commercial. [Laughs.]

Curve: You’ve been doing a lot of fund-raising for queer causes these last couple of years. It’s five years we’ve had the Rainbow Card, the Rainbow Foundation going.
What’s the dollar figure you’ve raised?

Over a million dollars. … We’ve reached a lot of organizations with the money, and so we’ve done pretty well.

Curve: Do you personally get feedback on how that money has helped those organizations?

Yeah, I talk to the board members of the organizations and they tell me what they’re doing, what they’re thinking. … I know who they are and the money is well-used.

Curve: Great.

That’s the beauty of it. I think we’re very good — not us as the Rainbow Foundation, but the gay and lesbian organizations. Such a huge percentage of the money goes directly to causes. I think we’re very efficient at the grass-roots level.

At keeping down overhead, you mean?

Yeah. You see at a lot of these national organizations, 70, 80, or even 90 percent of the money raised goes to administration, which is just ludicrous. That’s the last thing you really want.

Do you think fund-raising for lesbian and gay causes will be affected by all the money going into the New York relief efforts this year?

I think everybody has been affected. In fact, I just wrote out a whole bunch of checks today to different animal and environment organizations. I just did it now because I thought, “My God, they’re really getting hit.” All the attention is going to New York City. Everybody’s been hit — not just gay and lesbian [groups].

There have been a couple of recent high-profile lesbian breakups — Julie and Melissa, Ellen and Anne. You certainly have been in that spotlight before. What’s it like watching the public reaction from the outside?

Well, I really don’t talk about it, because I don’t want to contribute to it. I think enough has been said and the less said, the better. Let them get on with their lives. … It was really difficult for them because they were the poster couples and they both split up so soon after one another. It’s tricky, and myself, I try to keep as low a profile as possible.

Curve: Are you more reticent about having a love life in the spotlight since your public breakups?

You know, I never had a choice about it. I played tennis and I was in the limelight and if I wanted my partner to be with me, then she was photographed. … But now that I play very little, I can afford to keep my private life private. Also, they don’t really care about me now — I’m in my 40s
.
Curve: Oh, Martina, lesbians care. We always care about who you’re dating.

[Laughs.]

Curve: Are you in a relationship now?

I am very much in a relationship and it’s ’till death do us part and that’s all I will say about it. And it’s wonderful.

Curve: Can you tell me if this relationship has changed you in any way?

It’s made me a better person, yeah.

Curve: You once said, “Labels are for filing.” I’m wondering how you apply that to bisexual women? It seems like a great deal of the lesbian community still holds bisexual women at arm’s length, even when they’re in lesbian relationships and even when they’re very high-profile women like Julie Cypher. There’s been a lot of bi-bashing toward Julie.

Yeah. I think we’re too touchy about that. Yes, there are some true bisexuals out there. I think maybe lesbians get a little ticked off about it in general because a lot of women use that as an excuse to not admit they’re lesbians, so [identifying as] bisexual is sort of [out of] a fear. But some people are true bisexuals and, you know, can go back and forth. As far as Julie Cypher is concerned, she’s always been a friend of mine. She always will stay a friend of mine. I don’t care who she sleeps with, as long as she’s happy. I don’t really get this [belief] that you have to be a lesbian in order for us to respect you or for you to be a friend.

My feeling is, if you’ve given that much to the lesbian community, you’ve been involved in the lesbian community that much, you’re a lesbian regardless of — who you’re with at the moment.

Curve: A couple of fun questions: I saw you on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. What was that experience like?

It was fun.

Curve: What were you raising money for?

Save the Rhino. It was difficult. … I really knew all the answers, but I was reticent to really go for it in case I was wrong, because it wasn’t my money. I think if it was my money, I would have gone further, but still, I’m happy with the money I raised. For Save the Rhino, it was about half their yearly budget.

Curve: What is your favorite television show?

Oh, “Xena.” You know, both “Xena” and “Hercules” — they’ve done great, great shows, and here comes “Hidden Tiger, Lying Dragon,” whatever that movie was —

Curve: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
Yeah, and it was such a big deal, and “Xena”’s been doing that for years! The special effects were fabulous and [Xena’s] been doing that on a weekly basis for years. I think that show’s really fun. Um, what do I watch now? Oh, I just watched “Alias,” another great show.

Curve: I think there’s a bunch of great new shows with strong female characters.

Yeah. And of course, I’ve been watching “Sex and the City.” Oh, and one more show, “Charmed,” but now that Shannen Doherty is off, I’m not sure I’m going to watch any more.

Curve: You’re a Shannen Doherty fan?

Well, yeah, I think the trio was great and the new girl [Rose McGowan] doesn’t thrill me. She’s too much of a Barbie doll. It’s fun, it’s a clever show and again, it portrays women in a strong, good light.

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