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Calls for Margaret Court’s name to be stripped from stadium

TENNIS legend Margaret Court is under fire for her views on gay marriage. There are even calls to rename the arena that bears her name.

Benedict BrookBenedict Brook
@BenedictBrook
3 min read
May 26, 2017 - 2:55PM
Calls to change name of Margaret Court Arena

THERE are calls to rename one of Australia’s most famous sports stadiums following a furious row over gay marriage.

It follows comments from tennis great Margaret Court that she will refuse to fly Qantas due to CEO Alan Joyce’s backing of marriage equality.

“I believe in marriage as a union between a man and a woman as stated in the Bible,” Court said in a letter to The West Australian newspaper earlier this week.

The comments and the name of Margaret Court Arena have now dragged in Australian player Casey Dellacqua, tennis royalty Martina Navratilova and even the prime minister.

Margaret Court at the Australian Open. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis
Margaret Court at the Australian Open. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

There have been calls to remove Court’s name from the stadium in Melbourne’s Olympic Park.

But 3AW radio presenter Neil Mitchell said renaming the stadium was “ridiculous” and the actions of the “gay mafia at its worst”.

Alan Joyce, who is gay and has been in a relationship for many years, has been a vocal supporter of gay marriage. Qantas is one of a number of big Australian companies to publicly back a law change.

But Court, who is now a Christian pastor, takes a very different view. She wrote that she will stop using Qantas “where possible” in protest.

A Qantas plane with a rainbow logo. The airline is a corporate supporter of marriage equality.
A Qantas plane with a rainbow logo. The airline is a corporate supporter of marriage equality.

“I am disappointed that Qantas has become an active promoter for same-sex marriage, she wrote. “Your statement leaves me no option but to use other airlines were possible for my extensive travelling.”

A long time critic of homosexuality, Court rounded off her letter by saying, “I love all people and will be pleased to talk to your board at any time,” she wrote Thursday. “But it won’t be in the Qantas lounge.”

Her words did not go down well with Navratilova, who is gay and has previously criticised Court for her views on homosexuality.

She tweeted that the Margaret Court Arena should now be renamed.

“Margaret, you have gone too far. Shame on you,” she said.

Casey Dellacqua, who is also gay, simply tweeted, “Margaret Court. Enough is enough.”

The tennis establishment has moved swiftly to distance itself from Court’s comments. In a statement, Tennis Australia said Court was a “legend of the sport” and respected her achievements.

But, the body added, “her personal views are her own and do not align with Tennis Australia’s values of equality, inclusion and diversity”.

Even Margaret Court Arena itself didn’t agree with its namesake, The stadium’s Twitter account said they remained an organisation “committed to embracing equality, diversity and inclusion from our fans to our colleagues”.

A petition to rename the stadium has been started on Change.org. It states, “Using past sporting glory as a platform to attack people and spread hate and fear is also not OK.

“There are many other female tennis greats who bring our nation together, whose name should be on this arena, for instance Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, whose name will not be a reminder of homophobia in sport.”

The hashtag #changethename has taken flight on social media.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan took aim at Court on 3AW radio on Friday, saying, “She is fundamentally wrong.”

But Malcolm Turnbull, who does back marriage equality, said on Friday morning that he was not in favour of removing the name from the stadium.

He said she was entitled to her view. “She is one of the all-time greats and the Margaret Court Arena celebrates Margaret Court the tennis player,” he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW.

Spokesman for marriage equality campaign just.equal, Ivan Hinton-Teoh, stopped short of backing Navratilova’s call to rename the stadium. Instead he said the “ball was in Margaret’s Court” as to where she wished it to remain in place, noting the stadium’s backing of diversity and inclusion.

“If Margaret Court is serious about boycotting business that support equality she has a decision to make about whether she wants her name to remain on a building that stands for equality.”

If Court does follow through on her promise to never again step foot on the flying kangaroo she could be grounded. Virgin Australia has also backed marriage equality. Even getting a coach could be an issue with Greyhound tweeting that they may have to be added to Court’s “boycott list”.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/calls-for-margaret-courts-name-to-be-stripped-from-stadium/news-story/a8e0fd99ead9660400eb9a8566627ee8