Dr. Clara Tung Meng Soo, a Canberra doctor, said she was returning the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) awarded to her in 2016 in protest against the decision to honor the controversial tennis player Margaret Court on Australia Day.
On Friday, the news leaked that Margaret Court would receive Australia’s highest civilian tribute – the Companion to the Order of Australia. The news sparked a violent reaction when Court, a minister of the Pentecostal Church since her retirement, made and continues to make abominable comments against the LGBTQI community and equality in marriage.
First GP in Australia to go through gender transition
Dr. Soo is one of the first General Practitioners to go through a gender transition and is known for her work with the LGBTQI community, people with HIV and people with drug addictions. She received OAM for her work and said she was disappointed to read the news about the award to the Court.
“I spent most of my adult life as a homosexual before my transition from gender to woman in 2018,” said Dr. Soo in her letter to the Governor General. “My partner and I were one of the first couples to go through a civil union when this legislation passed the ACT and I am also one of the first general practitioners to go through a gender transition in Australia. Therefore, I have professional experience and experience in the communities about which Ms. Margaret Court makes these disparaging and offensive remarks. ”
Dr. Soo said that many in the LGBTQI community do not have strong support structures around them.
“We know that transgender teenagers have the highest rates of self-harm and suicide in our community and the comments that people like Ms. Margaret Court make are very damaging to their morale and health. In giving this promotion to Mrs. Margaret Court, the Council for the Order of Australia is sending a strong signal to these distressed young people that discrimination and prejudice towards them is tolerated in our Australian community. ”
Dr. Soo said she would like to return the prize, as she “does not want to be seen as supporting the values that the Council for the Order of Australia seems to support with the promotion of Ms. Margaret Court”.
Prize winners register protest
Other Australians who received the council’s award also registered their protest. Rebekah Robertson and her daughter, trans actor and activist Georgie Stone, were awarded the Order of Australia Medal last year for their work.
In a Twitter post, Robertson said she was “disgusted” with the honor for Court. “Recently, my daughter Georgie Stone was awarded an OAM that she received for Services to the Trans and Diversified Gender Community. Most of her childhood was devoted to fighting for the rights of her and other young people at TGDNB. “
Recently, my daughter Georgie Stone was awarded an OAM that she received for Services to the Trans and Diversified Gender Community. Most of her childhood was dedicated to the fight for the rights of her and other TGDNB youth (continued) pic.twitter.com/47YcAfJBxS
– Rebekah Robertson OAM 💗⚪️💙🌈 (@RebeRobbo) January 22, 2021
“Today we find that a person who refers to children like Georgie as ‘the devil’ has received Australia’s greatest honor. I can only assume a reward for maintaining these opinions. My daughter is making the world a better place with an exemplary example of kindness. This other person is filling the world with hatred, chewing on your bitterness and spitting, regardless of the damage it does. This is not an honorable behavior. I am so disgusted by this. “
Sydney City Councilor Professor Kerryn Phelps, who was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), said she wrote to the governor general to record her protest. “Dr. Clara Tuck Meng Soo won her OAM. She shouldn’t feel obligated to return it, ”said Phelps in a post on social media.
I wrote today for the #General governor / Secretary of Honors and Awards to register my protest. https://t.co/Hy6ERddjTS
Dr. Clara Tuck Meng Soo received her OAM. She shouldn’t feel compelled to give it back.#MargaretCourt https://t.co/lsFxLgzgfN
– Prof Kerryn Phelps AM (@drkerrynphelps) January 23, 2021
Transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey questioned the Court’s award saying, “a person so full of hate that it causes so much pain to the LGBTQI + community. These awards are to honor great Australians, not great tennis players. It meets one of these criteria, definitely not both. ”
Jesus Margaret Court receiving a tribute to Australia Day, I can throw up … a person so full of hate that it causes so much pain to the LGBTQI + community. These awards are to honor great Australians, not great tennis players. It fulfills one of those criteria, definitely not both
– Hannah Mouncey (@HannahMouncey) January 22, 2021
‘Reconsider the decision to honor the court’
Ivan Hinton-Teoh, a spokesman for the LGBTQI advocacy group just.equal, asked the Australian Order Council to reconsider its decision to honor the Court. Hinton-Teoh said that other Australians can return their prizes, as they would not like to be associated with a system that honors someone like the Court.
“Margaret Court’s main contribution to Australian society since she was awarded the Order of Australia Officer (in 2007) for her historic tennis achievements has been to marginalize and slander LGBTQI Australians. Either the Council was not aware of the damage and the division to which it actively contributed or they are and are supporting it, ”said Hinton-Teoh in a statement.