Andy Murray voices support for marriage equality following Margaret Court’s latest anti-gay rant

Tennis star Andy Murray has called out Australian tennis legend Margaret Court after she made a series of negative statements about marriage equality and LGBT+ rights.

Court, who retired from professional tennis in 1977, holds the record for Grand Slam titles, with 24. She became a Pentecostal minister in the early 1990s and has since been a vocal critic of LGBT+ rights.

Court has made a series of anti-gay comments over the last few days – stemming from a dispute with Qantas boss Alan Joyce.

The airline boss is a strong advocate for equal marriage in Australia, and Court has announced that she will be boycotting the company because of his views. Among a litany of offensive comments, Court said that gay people are “after” Australia’s youth, as well as saying that women’s tennis is now full of lesbians.

She also expressed revulsion for parents who support children who wish to explore their gender identity. 

“What confusion to a child. I get confused talking about it. You can think, ‘I’m a boy’, and it affects your emotions and feelings and everything else. That’s all the devil.”

Andy Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion and current world number 1, made his thoughts on Court’s rhetoric clear following his first round win at the French Open this week.

“I don’t see why anyone has a problem with two people who love each other getting married,” said Murray.

“If it’s two men, two women, that’s great. I don’t see why it should matter. It’s not anyone else’s business. Everyone, in my opinion, should have the same rights.”

One of the venues used during the Australian Open bears Court’s name, and many players have urged her name to be removed before the next Australian Open, or face a boycott. 

Sam Stosur, the number 1 female tennis player in Australia, and Martina Navratilova have both supported a potential boycott. Asked whether he would support this kind of action, Andy said: “If something was to be done, I think it would be a lot more beneficial to do it before the tournament starts. “For players to be in a position where you’re in a slam and boycotting playing on the court, I think would potentially cause a lot of issues.

“So I think if something was going to be happen and the players come to an agreement, if they think the name should be changed or whatever, that should be decided before the event starts.

“But I would imagine a lot of the players would be pretty offended. So we’ll see what happens.”