Since she retired, Court’s legacy has been increasingly overshadowed by her intolerant views, and she has alienated many in the tennis world. In 1991, she said that lesbianism ruined women’s tennis. A Pentecostal minister, she vehemently opposed same-sex marriage, compared LGBTQ education to the work of the devil and denounced transgender athletes.
Calls are underway to remove Court’s name from Melbourne Park’s second largest stadium, which was named after her in 2003 and is one of the locations of the Australian Open, scheduled to start next month. Referring to the annual outbursts of anger around Mrs. Court, Mr. Andrews, Victoria’s prime minister, said, “Do we really have to do this every summer?”
Tennis Australia, the governing body of the sport in the country, resisted pressure to rename the stadium while seeking to distance itself from Courtney. Last year, when it recognized the 50th anniversary of its 1970 Grand Slam, it published a disclaimer: “Tennis Australia does not agree with Court’s personal opinions, which have demoted and harmed many in our community over the years.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, when asked about the new award at a news conference on Friday, said he could not comment, as the recipients were not announced publicly. (News about Ms. Court is circulating online.) He added that they were chosen through an “independent set of processes” and that the system “recognizes Australians across the spectrum of achievements in this country”.
Last year, the Australian Order’s awards were overshadowed by the controversy surrounding a recipient, Bettina Arndt, a vocal activist against what she describes as the “demonization of men in our society”. Ms. Arndt was widely condemned for praising a police officer for “keeping an open mind” about whether a man accused of murdering his wife and children had been “taken too far”.
Following this public reaction, the Council for the Order of Australia issued a statement noting that its recommendations “are not an endorsement of the recipients ‘political, religious or social views, nor is an honor endorsement of the recipients’ personal beliefs.”
He added: “In a system that recognizes hundreds of people each year, it is inevitable that each list will include some people that others believe should not be recognized.”