Since she retired, the legacy of me. Court’s legacy is increasingly overshadowed by her intolerant views, and she has alienated many in the tennis world. In 1991, she said that lesbianism had destroyed women’s tennis. She is a Pentecostal pastor, and has opposed same-sex marriages, comparing LGBTQ education to the work of the devil, and exposing transgender athletes.
The name of Mrs. Court removed from Melbourne Park’s second largest stadium, named after her in 2003 and one of the sites of the Australian Open, which starts next month. With reference to the annual outbursts of anger around me. Court, it’s Mr. Andrews, the Prime Minister of Victoria, said: “Do we really have to do this every summer?”
Tennis Australia, the country’s governing body for the sport, has been under pressure to resist renaming the stadium, while removing it from me. Court wants to distance itself. When she acknowledged the 50th anniversary of her Grand Slam in 1970 last year, it expressed an indemnity: ‘Tennis Australia does not agree with the personal views of Court, which many people in our community have said over a number of years did not humiliate. ‘
Premier Scott Morrison, at a news conference on Friday about the new award, said he could not comment as the recipients were not announced publicly. (The news about Mrs Court spread online.) He added that they were selected through an “independent set of processes” and that the system “recognizes Australians across the whole spectrum of achievements in this country.”
Last year, the Order of Australia Awards was overshadowed by controversy surrounding one recipient, Bettina Arndt, a vocal campaigner against what she describes as the ‘demonization of men in our society’. Me. Arndt was widely condemned for praising a police officer for ‘keeping an open mind’ or for driving a man accused of killing his wife and children ‘too far’.
Following the public setback, the Council for the Order of Australia issued a statement stating that the recommendations ‘are not an endorsement of the political, religious or social views of recipients, and that the award of an honor is not’. an endorsement is not of the personal views of recipients. . ”
It added: “In a system that recognizes hundreds of people every year, it is inevitable that every list includes people who, according to others, should not be recognized.”