Gay couple ‘married’ outside Margaret Court Arena

A SAME-SEX couple illegally ‘married’ outside of Margaret Court Arena over the weekend to protest the tennis legend’s recent homophobic and transphobic comments.

Ron Van Houwelingen and his partner of thirty years Antony McManus were the pair married, conducted by organiser of the event James “Breko” Brechney, founder of DIY rainbow.

“Obviously we find Margaret Court’s statements abhorrent,” Van Houwelingen said in an interview with The Age.

“We believe that giving Margaret Court a platform for her hate speech is not acceptable given her status, so we’re sending her a message of love.”

In addition to the wedding, activists chalked a rainbow crossing outside the venue in a celebration marking the end of Pride Month.

Brechney said it’s important for Court to understand the LGBTI community is proud to be themselves.

“She’s not going anywhere, and we just want to make it really clear we’re not going anywhere either,” he said.

“We made Margaret Court Arena fabulous for a Saturday afternoon.”

During the ceremony Van Houwelingen and Mcmanus said: “I did not want to marry you today, I wanted to marry you 27 years ago.”

'I did not want to marry you today, I wanted to marry you 27 years ago', gay @MCourtArena wedding @diyrainbows #DIYrainbow #auspol 🌈👬💍🎾 pic.twitter.com/KQtlqojQsD

— Dylan Joel (@dylanjoele) July 1, 2017