Tennis legend slammed for comparing LGBTQ activists to 'the devil'

Despite relentless criticism, Australian tennis great Margaret Court won't stop in her tirade against LGBTQ people.

Only a week after publicly refusing to fly Qantas because of the airline's stance on marriage equality, Court was interviewed by Vision Christian Radio, where she further talked about her opposition to giving LGBTQ people the right to marry.

"You know you pray that that there are enough people who can flag this nation down, and say we're not going the way of other nations, because they're having so many problems," she claimed.

Court also said LGBTQ activists, parents who "don't care," and anti-discrimination efforts like the controversial safe schools programme are influencing children to become trans or binary.

"That's all the Devil. I'll say it's the devil. That's what Hitler did. That's what communism did - it got in the minds of the children. There's a whole plot in our nation and in the nations of the world to get in the minds of the children," she added.

Court also said that tennis, a sport in which she won more titles than any other player in history, "is full of lesbians."

"Even when I was playing there were only a couple there but those couple that led took young ones into parties. And what you get at the top is often what you'll get right through that sport," she said.

Of course, Twitter took exception to Court's comments.

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Martina Navratilova, a former No. 1 tennis player who identifies as lesbian, has been behind calls for Margaret Court Arena to be renamed in light of the hateful comments.

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"It is now clear exactly who Court is: an amazing tennis player, and a racist and a homophobe," Navratilova wrote in an open letter addressed to the Margaret Court Arena in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday.

"Her vitriol is not just an opinion. She is actively trying to keep LGBT people from getting equal rights (note to Court: we are human beings, too). She is demonising trans kids and trans adults everywhere."

Navratilova questioned how much blood will be on Court's hands because kids will "continue to get beaten for being different."

"We should not be celebrating this kind of behaviour, this kind of philosophy. The platform people like Margaret Court use needs to be made smaller, not bigger," she added.

"Which is why I think it's time to change your name."