Openly gay tennis legend Martina
Navratilova has spoke out on Margaret Court's opposition to gay
marriage.
Court, the 62-time Grand Slam champion,
in January reiterated her opposition to gay nuptials.
“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,” Court told The
West Australian of efforts to legalize marriage equality in
Australia.
“There is no reason to put forward
alternative, unhealthy, unnatural unions as some form of substitute,”
added Court, a Pentecostal minister.
Navratilova was among the speakers at
Out & Equal's Global LGBT Workplace Summit 2012, which took place
in London. She discussed homophobia in sport.
“I have tried to have a dialogue with
Margaret Court but you can't have a dialogue with a person who is
completely closed to anything based on reality,” Navratilova is
quoted as saying by GayStarNews.com.
“I wasn't shocked,” she said of
Court's remarks. “I just thought, 'Not again.' She is on the
losing side of history because it's the right thing to do. I was
disappointed that we couldn't have a discussion.”
She also called on companies to
increase their support for gay rights.
“Get more political. Be more of an
advocate on a bigger level. Stand up more to these really ignorant
statements. Whether it's politicians or different churches. Because
silence equals consent. So they [corporations] need to be a little
more vocal in their support.”