Until recently, Margaret Court was known for her #tennis career; number 1 in the world for both men and women, leading to the prestige of having an arena named after her for her amazing abilities on the court. The Margaret Court Arena, along with Margaret Court herself, are now facing something much bigger than tennis and it's all thanks to Margaret's shameful words of hate and discrimination.
Who is Margaret Court?
Margaret Court, now a Christian minister, stated in an interview on Wednesday by Vision Christian Radio, that "tennis is full of lesbians." She went on to shame transgender youth as the work of "the devil." Her homophobic rant isn't going unnoticed.
Several members of the tennis community, including Martina Navratilova, are speaking out against Margaret's hate-filled statement of bigotry and homophobia. They are demanding that Margaret Court Arena remove the retired player's name from their title.
In an open letter, via The Sydney Morning Herald, Martina Navratilova spoke out about Court's deplorable words and demanded the arena change their name calling Court "an amazing tennis player, and a racist and a homophobe." Navratilova goes on to say that Court is "actively trying to keep LGBT people from getting equal rights...She is demonizing trans kids and trans adults everywhere."
Margaret's shame
Does Court not understand that this is exactly the kind of hate-speech that leads to hate crimes and suicide?
Opinions are opinions and everyone is entitled to have them, however, when you are a sports legend with arenas named after you, your opinion becomes so much more than just that. It holds so much more influence coming from someone in Court's position. A cloud of hate spiraling around the world, the news, the internet, and social media, filtering into the minds and souls of the people she has targeted; one more layer of hate and shame placed upon those who already fight to hold their heads high against such oppression every day.
Hopefully, the Margaret Court Arena sees Court's words for what they are; a representation of hate and discrimination that no respectable establishment should uphold. It is time to find another tennis player to name their arena after. Someone who represents equality and love. Someone worthy of the honor of having an arena named after them.
Someone who will support the people who need support, and exemplifies positivity with their actions and words on a regular basis. It's just a thought, but Martina Navratilova Arena has a nice ring to it.
