If you think America is the only place sports and politics are interwoven, think again. The winningest women’s Tennis player of all-time is under fire in Australia for supporting heterosexuality. She and a former WNBA player Candice Wiggins were both scrutinized for claiming their sports were full of lesbians.
Some claim athletes influence on social change is positive because challenging social stereotypes have influenced more acceptance of the LGBT community.
Some ask if that is a good thing? Others point to the negative example set by athletes who say “I am not a role model.”
Tennis champ rebuked
Margaret Court, the women with the most Grand Slam major titles in history, was forced out as a member of the Cottesloe Tennis Club in Perth. Now a Pentecostal pastor, Court’s sin is opposing a same-sex marriage referendum underway down under.
“No amount of legislation or political point-scoring can ever take out of the human heart the knowledge that in the beginning God created them male and female and provided each with a unique sexual function to bring forth new life,” Court was quoted in The West Australian newspaper.
Dismantling the traditional definition of marriage and legitimizing what God calls sin, such as sodomy, is wrong, she added.
Vote
Australia is embroiled in a national, non-binding same-sex marriage vote. Voters have until Nov. 7 to mail their votes. The results are scheduled to be announced Nov. 15. Parliament is expected to vote on changing the marriage law if “yes” votes win. The country recognizes 36,000 civil unions between gay couples.
Australia has a “temporary” ban on “hate speech” through the end of the election. Those found guilty of vilifying, intimidating or threatening harm “on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status or religion” could face a $10,000 fine.
Australian Conservatives Sen. Cory Bernardi told ‘No” supporters that a change to the Marriage Act could lead to the criminalization of thoughts or speech, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Confusing children?
Court says she does not use Qantas airlines in protest of the company's support for same-sex marriage. Further, she opposes the country’s SafeSchools anti-bullying program. It, Court said, leaves children confused by telling them it is permissible to identify with a gender other than their birth sex.
The former tennis champs said she sees plots in the nations of the world today to get the minds of the children. “That's what Hitler did, and that's what communism did – got the mind of the children," she added.