Megan Rapinoe slams critics of trans females in women's sports, says jokes 'directly leads to violence'

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe said in a recent interview that questioning transgender participation in women’s sports is harmful.

Rapinoe mentioned remarks made by tennis legend Martina Navratilova and ESPN anchor Sage Steele, who believe transgender women should not be competing against biological females in sports. Rapinoe also does not appreciate comedian Dave Chappelle’s jokes about the issue.

"I don’t want to mince words about it," Rapinoe told Time magazine in an interview published Monday. "Dave Chappelle making jokes about trans people directly leads to violence, whether it’s verbal or otherwise, against trans people. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe, #15, is seen before the game against the Kansas City Current at Lumen Field. (Michael Thomas Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports)

"When Martina or Sage or whoever are talking about this, people aren’t hearing it just in the context of elite sports. They’re saying, ‘The rest of my life, this is how I’m going to treat trans people.’"

Navratilova has been an activist for the gay community but has been against transgender women competing against biological women in sports.

In March, she applauded World Athletics for adopting a policy to exclude transgender female athletes from women’s competitions. She called it a "step in the right direction."

"In the wake of World Athletics’ announcement, I think the best idea would be to have ‘biological female’ and ‘biological girls’ categories and then an ‘open’ category," she wrote in an op-ed in The Times of UK.

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA HAS 1-WORD RESPONSE TO MEGAN RAPINOE'S REMARKS ON TRANS