Renee ESPN Films: How Renee Richards' Courage Led to Hall of Fame Career

The latest documentary from ESPN Films focuses on Renee Richards and the controversy surrounding her tennis career following sex reassignment surgery. In a world that was much less politically correct than today, it took a lot of courage for her to fight for her rights and succeed.

Richards, named Richard Raskind prior to the surgery, was a successful youth tennis player but had flamed out as a professional. After several years out of the sport, Richards decided to undergo the controversial procedure.

And that's where the real story of courage begins.

Richards decided to start playing tennis again, this time on the women's circuit, and became the focus of widespread criticism. She was denied entry into the 1976 US Open and was asked at every stop whether she was truly a man or a woman.

Instead of fading back into the darkness, Richards decided to fight all the way to the New York Supreme Court for her right to play. She understood it would be impossible to avoid narrow-minded tennis enthusiasts from treating her poorly, but wanted to set a precedent.

She did so by winning the right to play in the 1977 US Open. Richards didn't have any more success in the main draw than before, but excelled in doubles. She reached the finals with Betty Ann Stuart and had some moderate success moving forward, according to glbtq.com.

Richards had a successful stint as coach of Martina Navratilova and was eventually named to the USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame.

But it wasn't the results that mattered. In reality, it isn't a story about tennis at all. It's about standing up for what you believe is right. Richards became a champion for those who undergo sex reassignment surgery by asking to be treated as an equal.

Changing one's sex is still a touchy subject more than three decades later as evidenced by Chaz Bono on the popular reality show Dancing with the Stars. However, Richards began to pave the way for acceptance of transgender individuals, which helped the Bono backlash be much less harsh.

There will never be universal acceptance of any type of person but it's people like Renee Richards that can make things better by standing up for themselves and not just accepting the status quo.