Margaret Court will not return the award
Grand Slam record holder Margaret Court has insisted on keeping one of Australia's highest accolades after criticizing her remarks about the LGBTQ community. After the "Officer of the Order of Australia" was awarded on Tuesday, voices against the 78-year-old were raised across the country.
by SID
last edit: Jan 26, 2021, 11:34 am
She is honored and will not return the award "because I love to represent my nation". According to Court, pastor of a Pentecostal church she founded for 26 years, her earlier comments were misrepresented by the media.
She "doesn't hate anyone, I love people, and I love homosexual people and transgender people. We integrate them into society, we don't reject anyone," she said in an interview with the 3AW radio station.
Kritiki by Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova
Court had sparked controversy with statements about sexuality and her support for conversion therapy for homosexuals. Among other things, she called transgender children the "work of the devil" or caused a stir with statements such as "tennis is full of lesbians".
Court had enraged other tennis greats like Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in the past when she tried to boycott an airline for advocating same-sex marriage.
After the award of the medal, the Australian TV presenter, among others, spoke up and described Court's honor as "insensitive". The Prime Minister of the State of Victoria had described their opinions as "hurtful" and "shameful". Medal holder Clara Tuck Meng Soo, a prominent Australian doctor, returned her award. You do not want to be associated with the values that are apparently related, said the doctor.