On This Date in Sports August 27, 1977
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Rene Richards becomes the first transgender person to play in the U.S. Open, losing in straight sets (6-4,6-1) to Virginia Wade one of the top-ranked women in the world. The 42-year-old physician who was born Richard Raskind had fought the U.S. Tennis Association to play in the women’s tournament and won, with New York Supreme Court Judge Alfred M. Ascione stating the USTA was violating her rights.
Rene Richards was born Richard Raskind in New York on August 19, 1934. Growing up in the shadow of the Forest Hills in Queens, which was the home of the U.S. Nationals, one of tennis’ four major tournaments. Raskind was an extraordinary athlete, playing football, baseball, and tennis. As he finished high school, Raskind was offered a tryout by the New York Yankees, but chose to concentrate on tennis and was captain of the Men’s Tennis team at Yale University. While at Yale, Richard Raskin was considered the top colligate tennis player in the country.
While Richard Raskin was successful at tennis in college, the sport did not offer much in terms of professionalism as all the majors were limited to amateurs until 1968, when the open era began. While in college he participated in the U.S. Nationals, but never advanced past the second round. Instead, Richard Raskin followed in his father’s footsteps and became a doctor. Though he continued playing as an amateur and won several Naval championships while serving in the military as a physician.
When Richard Raskin was at college, he began dressing as a woman and began questioning his gender identity, as he used the name Rene for his female persona. After considering a sex change operation in the 1960’s Raskind was briefly married and had a son. However, the older Raskin got the more he thought of himself as a woman and successfully underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1975, becoming Rene Richards.
After the surgery, Rene Richards who never quit playing tennis began entering women’s tournaments in California and successfully qualified to play in the 1976 U.S. Open. However, viewing that being born a male, gave her an unfair advantage, the U.S. Tennis Association refused to allow Richards to play unless she underwent chromosome test, to determine if she still processed male hormones. When she refused, Rene Richards was not allowed into the tournament and filed a lawsuit. The court case took nearly a year with a ruling on August 16, 1977, in her favor. During the decision, Judge Alfred M. Ascione ruled that Richards was a female and that any chromosome was a gross violation of her human rights. The decision would set precedent and became a landmark ruling in favor of transgender individuals.
While Rene Richards won her case, when she finally stepped on the court, she was up against the third-ranked player in the world Virginia Wade. Wade a former number one player who won the U.S. Open in 1973 and 1975 made quick work of Richards, winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.
Rene Richards would play in five straight U.S. Opens, with her best performance coming in 1979 making the third round. After retiring, Richards went into coaching and helped Martina Navratilova win a pair of Wimbledon Championships.