MELBOURNE, Australia - Nearly 40 years after she won the last of her 11 Australian Open singles titles, Margaret Court is back in the news at Melbourne Park for her opposition to gay marriage.
Her stance has spurred the creation of a Facebook group, "Rainbow Flags Over Margaret Court Arena," which is urging spectators to display rainbow-colored gay pride banners at the show court that bears her name during the Australian Open, which begins Sunday.
"Politically correct education has masterfully escorted homosexuality out from behind closed doors, into the community openly and now is aggressively demanding marriage rights that are not theirs to take," the 69-year-old Court said in a December interview with The West Australian in Perth, where she lives.
Kerryn Phelps, former president of the Australian Medical Association and one of Australia's most influential gay spokeswomen, has called on the Victoria state government and Tennis Australia to drop Court's name from the 6,000-seat show court arena named in her honor.
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• What: Australian Open, first-round play
• TV: 4:30 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday on ESPN2
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