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Tennis great Court unmoved by backlash

Michael RamseyAAP
Tennis champion Margaret Court's Australia Day honour has sparked outcry over her personal beliefs.
Camera IconTennis champion Margaret Court's Australia Day honour has sparked outcry over her personal beliefs.

Controversially awarded Australia's highest honour, Margaret Court has no regrets about her history of public outbursts.

Among the 78-year-old's stings was a hurtful personal attack on player Casey Dellacqua, which was widely condemned by the tennis community.

Court's appointment as one of four Companion (AC) of the Order of Australia in this year's Australia Day Honours List, leaked on Friday before the official unveiling, sparking predictable backlash.

She has been recognised for "eminent service to tennis" as winner of a record 24 grand slam singles titles and a mentor for young athletes.

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In response, Canberra doctor Clara Tuck Meng Soo announced she would hand back the Order of Australia she received in 2016 for her work as a medical practitioner with minority groups.

Dr Soo, who underwent gender transition in 2018, said the decision to honour Court "promotes discrimination" of LGBTQ people.

In an interview with AAP last week, Court - a Pentecostal minister who runs the Victory Life Centre church in Perth - remained unrepentant about her history of disparaging same-sex relationships and transgender people.

"All my life I've had those views and I was just saying what the Bible says," she said.

"I should always be able to say my views biblically, being a pastor and helping people with marriages and family. And I'll never change those views.

"I have nothing against people - I love the people. We have them come into our community services, all kinds - whether they're gay, transgender, whatever they are.

"We never turn a person away and I think it's been tried to be made out that I'm somebody that I'm not really. And I think that is very sad."

The Albury native enjoyed unparalleled on-court success, winning all four majors multiple times and dozens of doubles titles while also leading her country to Fed Cup victories.

But her achievements have been overshadowed more recently by her personal beliefs.

Court was honoured at last year's Australian Open on the 50-year anniversary of her 1970 season grand slam, but Tennis Australia condemned her views which had "demeaned and hurt many in our community over a number of years".

Tennis greats including Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe and Andy Murray have led calls for Court's name to be removed from Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park.

Court has frequently used megaphones to express her views.

In 2013, she notably attacked former Australian grand slam doubles champion Dellacqua and her partner Ashley Judd, who were celebrating the birth of their first child.

Dellacqua has spoken of the shock and hurt she felt when her one-time mentor, in an unprompted letter to a newspaper, declared it was sad the couple's son Blake had been "deprived of his father".

"Casey took that in the wrong way because my biblical side, I'd always say that a child needs a mother and a father ... that wasn't at her as a person," Court told AAP.

"The press has caused so many things ... always stirring, always trying to look for something to come against."

With the Australian Open due to start on February 8, Court said players who have complained about having to quarantine needed to abide by the rules.

"The players can't become bigger than the sport," she said.

"We need to have respect for people and for nations."

Describing the Australia Day honour as a great privilege, Court said her church had doubled its food donations to 75 tonnes per week amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She hopes to continue serving the church for the rest of her life.

"Whenever I go in a supermarket I've never had one person come up and say 'I don't agree with you', but I've had thousands come up to me and say 'thank you'," she said.

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