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Out tennis legend, Billie Jean King, calls for Margaret Court Arena to be renamed

by Tim Gibson

Tennis legend and out gay woman Billie Jean King has joined the public outcry against Margaret Court and called for the arena in Melbourne, for which she is the eponym, to be renamed. King, 74, is a former American number one professional tennis player, she won a total of 39 Grand Slams and a record 20 championship titles at Wimbledon – she has more recently been portrayed by Emma Stone in the movie Battle of the Sexes which showed her gradual coming out against the backdrop of her famous match with Bobby Riggs.

Court, 75, also a former world number one tennis player and King’s old professional rival, has come under fire for a slew of bizarre homophobic rants during the equal marriage postal vote in Australia. The now Perth-based Christian minister told newspapers that LGBT+ people “want marriage because they want to destroy it… It’s not about marriage. It will affect Christian schools, it will affect freedom of speech... There will be no Mother’s Day, there will be no Father’s Day, there will be no Easter, there will be no Christmas.”

Court, perhaps not understanding what being homophobic means, vehemently denied being a homophobe following the controversy of her remarks – she maintained she just felt uncomfortable with gay people. Yet with equal marriage winning in a landslide ‘yes’ vote in November and Christmas coming to pass in Australia Court still holds firm to her comments.

King expressed her dismay at her former colleagues’ remarks just days before traveling to Melbourne for the Australian Open later this week. She told the press “If I were playing today, I would not play on it, I personally don’t think she should have her name anymore.”

King has her own arena named after her in the States and says she feels a certain responsibility with that, “I think it’s really important if you’re going to have your name on anything that you’re hospitable, you’re inclusive, you’re open arms to everyone that comes. It’s a public facility.”

Court has refused to appear this year’s Australia Open.

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