Margaret Court is best known for her deeds on the Tennis Court, where she holds the record for the number of women's grand slam titles. In a nation that holds an incredibly high view of sporting achievements, by any measure, she is a national champion, a world-beater, a sporting heavyweight.
But Margaret Court, in her post tennis existence, is also known as the Senior Pastor of Victory Life Church in Perth. It is in this role that she continues to excel in life and has influence in our city.
One of the attributes I deeply admire about Margaret Court is that she fearlessly speaks up for the truth. In a day when too few will take a stand for truth, and the risk of becoming unpopular or offending others, in this regard she stands out as an example to the church in this city.
However, there can be a price to pay for speaking the truth. This week, coinciding with the commencement of the Australian Open (a Grand Slam she won 11 times in her career), calls have been made by gay activists to remove Mrs Court's name from the court named in her honour. The reason? Her publicly stated opposition to gay marriage.
Margaret Court Arena was so named because of Mrs Court's outstanding achievements on the tennis court. She is honoured for her tennis record by the tennis community in Australia. How is it that her personally held views, no matter how opposed to them some sections of the community may be, could override and disqualify her sporting achievements and record?
Kerryn Phelps, one of Australia's best-known gay women, said the former champion tennis player had gone beyond expressing a view about gay marriage and homosexuality to vilification of people living in same-sex relationships. "You have got a public landmark, in an iconic Australian sport like tennis, which is named after a person who is expressing views which are extremely hurtful to a lot of people," Professor Phelps told The Australian. "There should be careful consideration given to changing the name."
Unfortunately, this is true of much of how the same sex marriage "debate" has gone in Australia. Gay marriage activists call for tolerance to be shown and yet if you offer a dissenting view don't for a minute expect tolerance in return. In fact, don't even expect a debate. What you can expect is an attack on your character, your achievements, your reputation, and your substance as a person.
Margaret Court's response to those attacks:
"We live in a free society and I stand up for families between a husband and a wife. I won't ever back down on that."
She isn't backing down. And the reason she isn't backing down is that she knows the truth and the power of the truth to set people free. I pray she keeps on proclaiming the truth with boldness and courage, because we all need to hear it.
The gay marriage debate (and others like it) show we have a truth deficient in our society. The danger of that, in the words of George Orwell is:
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.”
Margaret Court, long a champion on the court, continues to be a champion for truth off it.