Margaret Court has sparked outrage among gay rights supporters Gay rights campaigners are planning to make their disgust at the archaic views of Australia's most successful female tennis player clear, with a rainbow flag protest at this month's Australian Open in Melbourne. Campaigners want Margaret Court's name to be stripped from the arena that bears it, due to the tennis great turned pastor at Perth's Victory Life Centre church's outspokenness on her view that being gat is a choice and often a product of childhood trauma. At a recent debate on same-sex marriage at the ALP national conference she wrote that the proposed reforms would "legitimise what God calls abominable sexual practices". She sparked further debate yesterday after telling The Australian she did not hate homosexuals and used her pastoral work to "help them to overcome" what she believes is a sexual choice rather than orientation. Her comments were slammed by tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King. Australian lesbian medical professional and human rights campaigner Kerryn Phillips has told The Australian Court has gone beyond expressing a view about gay marriage and homosexuality to vilification of people living in same-sex relationships. "You have got a public landmark, in an iconic Australian sport like tennis, which is named after a person who is expressing views which are extremely hurtful to a lot of people," Professor Phelps said. "There should be careful consideration given to changing the name." Phelps added, "Gay and lesbian members of the community are sick to death of being everyone's punching bags." A Facebook group has also been set up, calling for tennis-goers to unfurl rainbow flags in support of the gay community. It has the backing of four-time grand slam doubles champion and open-lesbian Rennae Stubbs, who has told the Herald Sun that it was only fair everybody had the same voice as Court. "As long as it is done tastefully, that's the most important thing for me," Stubbs said. Court's reponse Court has responded that she had never felt hatred towards gay people and was merely expressing God's word, as taken literally from the Scriptures. "We have them in our church. I help them to overcome. We have people who have been homosexual who are now married," she told The Australian. "When I spoke a month ago and stood for marriage, things came back from tennis players who probably didn't read what I wrote. It had nothing to do with people personally or tennis players. I remember speaking to Navratilova 10 years ago on something she brought up with me and I said 'Martina, I love you, God loves you, but a wrong doesn't make a right'. "I think I have a right, being a minister of the gospel, to say what it says from a scriptural side. I have been married for 44 years this year and, to me, marriage is something very special, wonderful, ordained by God. I look at the children of our next generation and think of the problems they are having in America with all this -- we don't need it in our nation." Official response Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said Margaret Court Arena was named in recognition of Court's playing achievements and that she was entitled to express her views. He said protesters would be welcomed at the tennis as long as there was no disruption to play or the enjoyment of other fans.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 13th January 2012 - 12:26pm