Margaret Court Cries She’s A Victim Of LGBT Bullying

Australian tennis player turned Christian minister, Margaret Court, who is no stranger to making homophobic statements, now claims she is a victim of LGBTQI bullying.

In a post-Wimbledon interview, Court spoke about feeling shunned from the tennis community due to her beliefs.

Court sought to use tennis icon, Serena Williams’ decision to retire, to back her claims that “the press and television today, particularly in tennis, don’t want to mention my name.” She also stated that she doesn’t believe that Williams ever admired her.

“Serena, I’ve admired her as a player. But I don’t think she has ever admired me,” Court told The Telegraph. “I thought it was bad that Serena didn’t mention her Aussie opponent more during her loss in the final match.”

The conservative, right-wChurch minister spoke about feeling a level of hostility towards her during the event this year, claiming it to be “very sad.”  This didn’t stop her from mentioning her recorded 24 major single titles during her career.

Court Says No One Spoke To Her

Despite her achievements, Court claimed that no one had spoken to her at Wimbledon. “I was at Wimbledon this year and nobody even spoke to me. So I thought, ‘ah, that’s interesting,” Court said.

“In 2020, I was meant to be coming to Wimbledon for the 50th anniversary of my calendar grand slam. But then Covid hit, so the honour never happened. The French Open didn’t invite me, the US Open didn’t invite me. Rod Laver had won the slam and I was going to be honoured in the same way, but no.”

Court did not appear to have got the message that people were disinclined to speak to her probably due to her very public views, including against the LGBTQI community in her many sermons at the Victory Life Centre in Australia.

Court’s Past Slights Against LGBTQ+ Community

In the past, Court has compared gay people to Adolf Hitler, declared homosexuality an “abominable sexual practice” and a “lust for the flesh” and slandered openly lesbian tennis star, Casey Dellacqua about her decision to have a baby with her partner, Amanda Judd. Court has also stated that tennis “was full of lesbians.”

One of the worse instances, however, is when Court became the honourary consul of the African republic of Burundi, where it is known that LGBTQI people have been tortured on many occasions.

Despite the stellar record of homophobic behaviour, Court believes the backlash she has received is due to her being a minister and not her past actions.

“I have had a lot of bullying. But we should be able to say what we believe. I’ve got nothing against anybody. I respect everybody, I minister to everybody,” Court said.

“You still get bullied by LGBT groups,” she continued. “Even when I’m helping the poor, some companies are not allowed to give my church things because of my name.”

Court doubled down on her claims, stating that certain LGBTQI groups weren’t justified in voicing their opposition to her anti-LGBTQI preaching as they “got everything they wanted in marriage and everything else.” Court is known to have opposed marriage equality in Australia, going so far to say that she would not fly Qantas, due to the airline’s support for the ‘Yes’ campaign during Australia’s marriage equality referendum in 2017.

Protests And Boycotts In Response To Margaret Court

This isn’t the first time and will no doubt not be the last time Court claims discrimination for her anti-LGBTQI beliefs. Back in 2020, Court claimed that Tennis Australia discriminated against her after they made it clear that they rejected her “demeaning” personal beliefs on gay marriage and homosexuality.

Others have refused honours and awards in protest of Court, such as the case of esteemed Australian journalist, Kerry O’Brien who refused the Australian Day Honour in 2021 and Dr Clara Tung Meng Soo who returned her 2016 Order of Australia Medal.