Margaret Court Will Speak At A Liberal Fundraiser, Which Seems Like A Pretty Poor Choice

A month ago, having Margaret Court as the guest speaker at your political fundraising event probably would have seemed like quite a coup. The 74-year-old former tennis pro has 24 Grand Slam singles titles, and is currently a Christian minister in Perth.

Unfortunately, as we’ve learnt over the past week or so, she also holds some truly appalling opinions about gay and trans people

In case you somehow missed it, Court made headlines last week after she sent a letter to The West Australian newspaper saying that she would no longer fly with Qantas due to the airline’s support for marriage equality. Her comments were widely condemned, with many calling for Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne to be renamed, and some tennis players threatening to boycott the venue during next year’s Australian Open.

Court has since defended her position by saying a bunch of even more offensive stuff, telling a Christian radio station that the queer community was “after our young ones” and comparing LGBTIQ rights activists to Nazis.

Also she once defended apartheid.

All of this goes to say that the Victorian Liberals now find themselves in a bit of an awkward situation, having invited the septuagenarian tennis player to speak at a party fundraiser in Melbourne later this month.

Court, whose husband Barry Court is the former President of the Western Australian Liberal Party, is due to speak at the second annual St Thomas More dinner at the exclusive Athenaeum Club. The dinner will raise money for the Liberal’s Sandringham branch, as well as candidate Brad Rowswell who will contest the seat at the 2018 state election.

Court had been invited to speak at the event before she made her recent controversial remarks. Nevertheless, the invitation will not be rescinded, with Rowswell confirming to Junkee on Sunday afternoon that the fundraiser will go ahead as planned with the tennis player in attendance.

Rowswell also told The Age that Court was a great Australian who “like everyone else, is entitled to express her views and opinions.”

“I’m not going to provide a running commentary on her comments,” he said.