Tennis great Margaret Court has hit back against calls to rebadge the stadium named in her honour, accusing the gay community of bullying, while appearing to attack the Safe Schools program.
A public firestorm erupted this week after the grand slam champion said she would no longer fly Qantas "where possible" in protest of the airline's support of same-sex marriage.
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Calls for Margaret Court Arena to be renamed
Martina Navratilova has joined calls for Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne to be renamed after the Aussie tennis great said she would boycott Qantas due to the airline's stance on same-sex marriage.
Court has since doubled down on her opposition to marriage equality, addressing the controversy in a tense interview on The Project on Friday night.
"It is because it's in the Bible," she said.
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"And my values even as a little girl and being brought up was that marriage was between a man and a woman, because the Bible says it and it's in the beginning and God created man."
Court clashed with hosts Waleed Aly and Meshel Laurie on the question of whether most Australians supported marriage equality, after Aly pointed to polls suggesting up to 70 per cent of people wanted same-sex marriage legalised.
"Many non-Christians agree with me that are out there. The farmers, just ordinary people... We're getting persecuted, we're getting bullied because we do have free speech also," Court said.
"It's very, very much one way."
The 74-year-old founder of Victory Life Church in Perth appeared to speak out against the Safe Schools program.
"Even with this program in the schools, I think you become an 'it' or a 'we' or a 'they'. We need to know the God way also and many children don't know," she said.
"I have nothing against homosexual people... but don't touch marriage." Margaret Court addresses her #MarriageEquality views. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/VWmIBxFmXr
â #TheProjectTV (@theprojecttv) May 26, 2017
Support is swelling to change the name of Margaret Court Arena with prominent tennis identities joining the debate.
Retired nine-time Wimbledon winner Martina Navratilova delivered a carefully aimed jibe towards Court on Twitter, supporting the name change campaign.
@John__Donegan @GregBaum Maybe it's time to change the name of the Margaret Court Arena then... and I guess Margaret will be taking the boat on her next trip?:)
â Martina Navratilova (@Martina) May 25, 2017
Current Australian tennis player Casey Dellacqua has also taken a stand against Court, after her family with partner Amanda Judd, the other mother of her two children, was targeted for criticism by the tennis great.
Margaret. Enough is enough. pic.twitter.com/Cl1DtC4aSL
â caseydellacqua (@caseydellacqua) May 25, 2017
Court herself is against the name change â even though Margaret Court Arena (part of the Melbourne Parks complex) lobbed into the fray on Friday, saying the venue remained committed to "equality, diversity and inclusion".
Court said she thought most of the public would be against the name change.
"I think it's very sad that they're bringing my tennis into it. This is why I say it's becoming a bullying from the homosexual gay side of people."
The campaign for the removal of Court's name comes exactly 15 years after the name was installed following a push led by another tennis legend, Billie Jean King.
King, who won 39 open titles, is a prominent a gay rights campaigner and has been out as a lesbian since 1981.
"She won more majors than any other woman or man, and she won the grand slam," King said in 2001.
"I know Rod (Laver) won two [grand slams], but I don't think Rocket would get his knickers in a twist about Margaret sharing with him."