Court over gay rights’ views
have her name on something. We’re all God’s children, so I probably don’t think it’s appropriate to have her name.’’
Asked whether she have would boycotted the Margaret Court Arena if she had still been on the circuit, King said: ‘‘If I were playing today, I would not play on it.’’
Public comments from Court include claims that tennis is ‘‘full of lesbians’’ and homosexuality is ‘‘a lust of the flesh’’. She has also suggested that transgenderism is the work of the devil.
The equivalent of Wimbledon’s No 1 court has carried Court’s name since 2003, and King revealed that she had originally lobbied for her rival to be honoured in this way.
‘‘I was really a proponent of trying to get her to have the best possible court and situation,’’ King said. ‘‘She won 64 grand slams, more than anybody else. I used to talk to the people in Australia when Rod Laver got the [main] arena, and I said, ‘What you going to do for Margaret?’’’
King – who has a stadium complex named after her at Flushing Meadows in New York – changed her stance over Court after her criticism of LGBT rights.
‘‘I just think she’s gotten really derogatory. When she talked about children of transgenders being from the devil, that put me over the edge because we’re all God’s children, all the best we can be.
‘‘It took me until I was 51 to feel comfortable in my own skin. Shame-based things are very difficult so that’s the last thing we need.’’ – THE TIMES, LONDON