Tennis legend proposes mass gay ‘wedding’ hosted by Elton John in venue named for natural marriage defender
Her fellow tennis greats keep lobbing derogatory shots at her, but former superstar Margaret Court keeps smashing returns without flinching.
Lesbian Martina Navratilova called for Margaret Court Arena, home of the Australian Open, to be renamed because of recent statements by Court defending the immutable definition of marriage. Others, including top-ranked men's player Andy Murray, quickly piled on.
The former bad boy of tennis, John McEnroe, delivered a tongue-in-cheek statement via video. After declaring that he is a “strong advocate of same-sex marriage,” who assumes genderless marriage will become law in the land Down Under, McEnroe went on to make a proposal.
“As for renaming the court that bears her name in Melbourne Park, the jury is still out. The self-appointed commissioner of tennis [McEnroe] might have a viable solution: Keep the name, and when same-sex ‘marriage’ finally becomes legal in Australia, I will personally call my good friend Elton John to host the biggest same-sex mass wedding ceremony ever seen … in Margaret Court Arena.”
Interestingly, Elton John, who is gay, is a recent convert to the notion of homosexual marriage. In 2008, the entertainer said that civil partnerships — not marriages — were more appropriate for gays.
McEnroe proves to be neither a fan nor advocate for marriage, whether conjugal or anti-conjugal in nature. “I actually don't see any reason why we shouldn't give them [gays and lesbians] the right to be as miserable as everyone else.”
Like a true sports professional, Court is not distracted by any of this. She ignores the errant lobs from the other side of the net.
Last week, the 24-time Grand Slam singles champion wrote, “I believe in marriage as a union between a man and a woman as stated in the Bible.”
On Sunday, The New York Times reported that Court, who is founder and pastor at Victory Life Center in Perth, spoke boldly to her Pentecostal congregation about the ongoing controversy, acing her delivery: “This isn't about the Margaret Court Arena. This is about the truth.”
