Radio rambling:Margaret Court says homosexuality is an ungodly "lust for the flesh" and that LGBT tendencies in young people are "all the devil".Credit:Vince Caligiuri
Court's issue has become Tennis Australia's problem. Calls for her name to be removed from the No.3 stadium at Melbourne Park after her first broadside had seemed excessive. But a series of players,when asked at the French Open,have criticised Court and Sam Stosur,Australia's No.1-ranked woman,has raised the possibility of a player boycott of Margaret Court Arena. Andy Murray,the world No.1-ranked man,said Tennis Australia would be wise to sort it out long before January's Australian Open.
Court,74,is pastor at the Victory Life Centre in Perth. She said she was driven to speak out by an open,but little-publicised letter written by Queensland businessman Stuart Ballantyne,also condemning Qantas and Joyce for his gay marriage stance,linking it to Qantas'decline as a business on Joyce's watch,affecting"customer franchise and investor returns".
"This week,I have come off a Qantas flight from the US,and the plane is best described as old and shabby,"Ballantyne wrote."It needs to be clear that the personal crusade of the CEO has not impacted on the extraordinarily poor performance of the national carrier during his tenure."
Court's radio elaboration was rambling and syncopated."It's very sad that they would use my tennis for something that is a now thing,"she said,overlooking that it was her tennis that gained her a public platform in the first instance and that she was repeatedly acclaimed by the interviewer as"the greatest tennis player in history".