By Martha Kelner, sports correspondent

Wherever you stand in the debate over transgender participation in women's sport, it is repellent to witness what could be mutually beneficial discourse hijacked by hateful invective.

Over the past few weeks the debate has been illuminated by several high-profile former athletes raising their heads above the parapet.

Tennis champion Martina Navratilova, having spent two months researching the issue, declared in a newspaper column her belief that it is unfair for natal men - those born that sex - to compete in women's sport.

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It was an eminently reasonable and well-argued piece, yet it led to her being cast aside by the same LGBT groups she has spent the last three decades being such a powerful advocate for.

Sharron Davies, who spent an entire career competing against East German swimmers forced into a doping regime and thus knows a fair bit about an uneven playing field, also spoke out. Her view, that the rules set by the International Olympic Committee threaten the future of women's sport, was endorsed by retired Olympians Kelly Holmes, Paula Radcliffe and Matthew Pinsent.

Image: Sharron Davies has considered involving the police after comments she received

Privately, many currently competing athletes agree. They acknowledge that it is not an overwhelming threat immediately given the small number of transgender women competing at elite level.

But they are worried that it might eventually lead not only to the erosion of female categories in sport but also place those competing in contact and combat sport in danger.

Limited evidence is available but these are legitimate concerns. In Aussie Rules, a 6ft 2in, 15-stone transgender woman Hannah Mouncey broke another player's leg.

Image: Laurel Hubbard still lifts 280kg despite 20 years between competing as a man and as a woman

In weightlifting, Laurel Hubbard's performances suggest the benefits of male puberty persist even years after transitioning. In 1998, while competing as a man, named Gavin, Hubbard lifted 305kg. Around 20 years later, after transitioning, she came back and competed in a Masters championship, still lifting 280kg despite the passage of time and the reduction of testosterone in her system. She said she may be forced into retirement by injury last year but this week announced a comeback.

Is it any wonder few active athletes feel emboldened to express their feelings publicly given the level of abuse Navratilova and Davies have been subjected to since airing their views? As ever, the backlash on social media has been the most vicious.

Canadian trans woman Rachel McKinnon, who is a champion Masters track cyclist and academic, posted a picture of Davies on Twitter and wrote: "I guarantee that if we posted this photo and asked, "Do you think it's fair for this trans women to compete in women's sport?" a LOT of people would be screaming 'NO' and calling her a man."

[Competing athletes] are worried that it might eventually lead not only to the erosion of female categories in sport but also place those competing in contact and combat sport in danger.

McKinnon encouraged Holmes' sponsors Garmin and Specialized to drop her as punishment for holding the view that women's events should be limited to those born as women. She also accused Holmes of being transphobic, which is defined as "feeling emotional disgust, fear, violence, anger, or discomfort towards people who do not conform to society's gender expectation".

From what I can deduce, Holmes doesn't appear to hold any of those prejudices, her only crime being the conviction that she needs to say something to preserve women's sport for future generations.

The abuse has become so horrible, so threatening that Davies has considered reporting it to the police. "I've thought about it," she told Sky News.

Image: Hannah Mouncey, right, once broke another player's leg

"It's so sad that the debate has been taken over by a very small minority who are being so nasty and bullying because the vast majority of feedback I've had has been very positive. I've had a lot of transgender people contact me to say they have the same opinion as me. This could help to improve understanding of the transgender community."

The abusive behaviour of an incredibly small section of the transgender community is damaging for those who have taken the sometimes incredibly difficult road of transitioning. It's important that an aversion to transgender participation in women's sport is not conflated with an aversion to transgender women as a whole and that the issue can be debated calmly and using scientific evidence where available.

Davies and others are looking to create a website where athletes who fear speaking out can anonymously submit their views on transgender participation in sport. The question we should be asking is why such a website is needed.

Sky Views is a series of comment pieces by Sky News editors and correspondents, published every morning.

Previously on Sky Views: Stripping IS brides of UK citizenship is not the solution