CARTOON BY BRIAN DOYLE
Earlier this week there were volcanic eruptions of bile on Australian Twitter accounts at the news that the “homophobic” tennis legend Margaret Court had been made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), the country’s highest award.
Court is one of Australia’s greatest sporting heroes. In the 1960s and 70s she won 24 Grand Slam women’s singles titles, 19 Grand Slam doubles titles, and 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. After retiring from professional tennis, she found God and became a Pentecostalist pastor in Perth.
Court brought to her preaching the same vigour she displayed in her sport. She campaigned against the legalisation of same-sex marriage and has criticised homosexuality and the transgender movement. “I believe implicitly in what the Bible tells me,” she said in 2016. “I do not cherry pick to be popular. God has made his feelings clear, and they are my feelings, too.”
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Handing back Australia Day awards I find the virtue signalling of prominent Australians such as Pater Kingston and Kerry O Brien highly hypocritical. They state the reason to hand back the Australia Day awards is in response to Margret Court s views and opinions on same-sex marriage and homosexuality. Further stating the intention of the country s highest honour is to foster community unity. So under the guise of unity they attack an individual who has differing views to their own on TV and radio. This seems to be the opposite of inclusive and unity. In fact it s exclusive, divisive and bullying.
The honour is unlikely to be revoked.
Amid a similar controversy last year, the council said the threshold for stripping someone of their award was a court conviction or misleading material given during the nomination process.
There were vocal - but ultimately unsuccessful - calls last year to strip awards from both men s rights activist Bettina Arndt and journalist Mike Carlton.
“The council recognises that the law prescribes behaviours, and expressions, which are abhorrent to society and therefore uses law as the threshold for termination and cancellation,” council chair Shane Stone said.
Meanwhile, medical professor Caroline de Costa has become the latest to pledge to return her Australia Day honour in protest at the decision to award Ms Court.