Dr Clara Tung Meng Soo, a doctor in Canberra, said she returned the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) awarded to her in 2016 in protest of the decision to honor controversial tennis player Margaret Court on Australian Day.
On Friday, the news leaked that Margaret Court has the highest civil honor in Australia – the Companion of the Order of Australia. The news called for a severe setback as Court, a Pentecostal pastor since her retirement, made gruesome remarks about the LGBTQI community and marital equality.
Australia’s first GP to undergo gender reassignment
Dr. Soo is one of the first GPs to undergo a gender transition and is known for her work with the LGBTQI community, people with HIV and people with drug addiction. The OAM was honored for her work and said she was disappointed to read the news about the award to the court.
“I spent most of my adult life as a gay man before my gender transition to a woman in 2018,” said Dr. Soo said in her letter to the Governor-General. ‘My partner and I were one of the first couples to undergo a civil union when the legislation was passed into law, and I’m also one of the first general practitioners to undergo a gender reassignment in Australia. I therefore have both professional experience and a lived experience of the communities about which Margaret Court makes these derogatory and hurtful remarks. ”
Dr Soo said that many in the LGBTQI community do not have strong support structures around them.
‘We know that transgender adolescents have the highest levels of self-harm and suicide in our community, and the remarks made by people like Mrs. Margaret Court make, is very detrimental to their morale and health. By giving this promotion to Mrs Margaret Court, the Council for the Order of Australia is sending a strong signal to these needy youths that discrimination and prejudice against them is tolerated in our Australian community. ‘
Dr Soo said she wanted to return her award because she did not want to see that she supported the values that the Council for the Order of Australia apparently supports with this promotion of Mrs. Margaret Court does not. ‘
Award-winning protest for winner registers
Other Australians who received the award from the council also recorded their protest. Rebekah Robertson and her daughter, transactor and activist Georgie Stone, were awarded the Order of Australia Medal last year for their work.
In a Twitter message, Robertson said she “disgusts” the honor for the court. ‘Recently, my daughter Georgie Stone received an OAM which she received for service to the Trans and Gender Diverse Community. Most of her childhood was fighting for her own and other young TGDNB people’s rights. ”
Recently, my daughter Georgie Stone was awarded an OAM she received for service to the Trans and Gender Diverse Community. Most of her childhood was spent fighting for her own and other young TGDNB rights (continued) pic.twitter.com/47YcAfJBxS
– Rebekah Robertson OAM 💗⚪️💙🌈 (@RebeRobbo) 22 January 2021
‘Today we find out that a person who calls Australia like Georgia’ the devil ‘has received the highest honor from Australia. I can only accept a reward for the view. My daughter makes the world a better place with an exemplary example of kindness. This other person fills the world with hatred, chews on her bitterness and spits it out, and does not care for the harm it causes. This is not honorable behavior. I’m so disgusted about this. ”
Sydney City Councilor Professor Kerryn Phelps, who has been awarded a membership of the Order of Australia (AM), said she had written to the Governor-General to record her protest. ‘Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo earned her OAM. She does not have to feel obligated to give it back, “Phelps said in a message on social media.
I met today at the # Governor-General Honors and Awards Secretariat to record my protest. https://t.co/Hy6ERddjTS
Dr. Clara Tuck Meng Soo earned her OAM. She does not have to feel obligated to give it back.# MargaretCourt https://t.co/lsFxLgzgfN
– Prof Kerryn Phelps AM (@drkerrynphelps) 23 January 2021
Transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey questions the award to the court and says: ” such a hate-filled person who causes so much pain to the LGBTQI + community. These awards are in honor of great Australians, not great tennis players. She meets one of the criteria, certainly not both. ”
Jesus Margaret Court gets an Australian day honor, can I throw … such a hate filled person causing so much pain to the LGBTQI + community. These awards are in honor of great Australians, not great tennis players. She meets one of the criteria, certainly not both
– Hannah Mouncey (@HannahMouncey) 22 January 2021
‘Decision reconsidered in honor of court’
Ivan Hinton-Teoh, a spokesman for LGBTQI advocacy group just.equal, called on the Council of Australia to reconsider its decision to honor the court. Hinton-Teoh said other Australians may return their awards as they do not want to associate with a system that honors someone like Court.
“Margaret Court’s biggest contribution to Australian society since she was an officer in the Order of Australia (in 2007) for her historic tennis achievements was to marginalize and malicious LGBTQI Australians. “The Council was either not aware of the damage and divisions she was actively contributing to, or they were supporting it,” Hinton-Teoh said in a statement.