Renee ESPN 30 for 30: Documentary Tackles Important Social Issue

On Tuesday night at 8 p.m. eastern time, ESPN will air a documentary that depicts a transgender tennis player's fight to be accepted.

Titled "Renee," the documentary chronicles the life of Renee Richards, who was born a male named Richard Raskind.

Raskind played tennis throughout his early life, even making it to the 35-and-over men's national tennis championships in 1972.

After a sex reassignment surgery in 1975, Renee Richards was not allowed to compete in the 1976 women's U.S. Open.

A lawsuit ensued and Richards was able to compete in the 1977 U.S. Open, in which she made it to the doubles final before losing.

ESPN tackled an important issue in this documentary. In the fight for equal rights, everyone should be allowed to compete, regardless of their race, class or gender.

In the grand scheme of things, this documentary is much more important than the one ESPN aired last week about Steve Bartman.

Who cares about a guy who tipped a foul ball away from a baseball player when there are people out there being discriminated against simply because they changed sexes?

Cubs fans made a big deal out of Bartman because their team missed the playoffs. Richards made a big deal out of not being allowed to compete in the 1976 women's U.S. Open because she wanted equal rights for transgender people.

I'm certainly not condemning Cubs fans or anything, I'm just saying that when you compare the subjects of the two documentaries, one is undeniably more important than the other.

Renee Richards fought for her rights and earned her success the hard way. Much like Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Richards earned the right for transgender people to compete in women's tennis.

ESPN was right to chronicle this historic moment in gender equality.