Pastor Will Attend Australian Open Despite Gay Group Protests
'I Won't Ever Back Down,' Says the Former No. 1 Tennis Player
An Australian pastor and retired former World No. 1 tennis player has brushed off threats of a gay rights protest at this year's Australian open, and refuses to change her views on same-sex marriage.
Each year 69-year-old Margaret Court, who has a tennis court named in her honor, is invited to attend the Grand Slam tennis tournament as a guest of honor.
Reports have speculated that gay rights groups will target Court in a protest at this year's Australian Open, reportedly due to her religious views on same-sex marriage.
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"Are they not wanting me to come to the Australian Open? Is that what they are trying to do? I don't run from anything," Court told The Australian on Wednesday.
"I have always been a champion and always loved what I do and love tennis. I think it is very sad they can bring it into that. It is hard that they can voice their opinions but I am not allowed to voice my opinion. There is something wrong somewhere," she added.
Court became one of the world's greatest tennis players in the 1970s, and in 1990 spoke out against gay and lesbian players such as Martina Navrátilová, who she condemned for publicly advocating her sexuality.
Since then, she has been consistently vocal in opposing same-sex marriage and condemning homosexuality as sinful, but insists she is simply adhering to the values of her faith and holds no malice towards gays.
"I have always said I have nothing against homosexual people ... We have them in our church. I help them to overcome. We have people who have been homosexual who are now married," Court explained.
"I think I have a right, being a minister of the gospel, to say what it says from a scriptural side. I have been married for 44 years this year and, to me, marriage is something very special, wonderful, ordained by God," she added.
Court converted to Pentecostalism from Catholicism in the 1970s and is today a senior pastor at Perth's Victory Life Centre church.
The mother of two also took the time to express her concerns about the effect that homosexuality has on children.
"I look at the children of our next generation and think of the problems they are having in America with all this- we don't need it in our nation," she said.
"We live in a free society and I stand up for families between a husband and a wife. I won't ever back down on that," she added.
It is unclear whether the Australian Open organizers will attempt to prevent next week's planned protests.
