"Wore some rainbow hairbands on Margaret Court Arena" - Laura Robson recalls protesting Aussie great after 'inexcusable' comments on LGBTQ+ community
Former British tennis player Laura Robson on Friday called out Margaret Court for her "pretty inexcusable" comments about homosexuality in the past, and recalled wearing rainbow bands in protest against the Australian legend in 2012.
The Australian Open is celebrating its second Pride Day today. Court, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, has often been severely criticized for her views on homosexuality.
A few days ahead of the 2012 Australian Open, she made some comments about the LGBTQIA+ community, for which she received a lot of flak from the tennis world.
"I've nothing against homosexual people. I help them to overcome," Court said. "We have people who have been homosexual who are now married."
"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," she added.
Reporting from Melbourne Park for Eurosport, Robson was reminded of her 2012 Australian Open match at the Margaret Court Arena, where she wore a rainbow-colored hairband to show solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community. She stated that she was happy to stand up for what she believed in.
"I didn't even remember that. Yeah, I wore some rainbow hairbands on Margaret Court Arena, obviously after she came out and said some pretty inexcusable things, in my opinion," Robson said. "If you're passionate about something, you should absolutely stand up for what you believe in. I was happy to do it 10 years ago, I'm happy to do it today."
Laura Robson: "I wore some rainbow hairbands on Margaret Court Arena after she said pretty inexcusable things. If you're passionate about something you should stand up for what you believe in. I was happy to do it 10 years ago, I'm happy to do it today." https://t.co/CYkiLhpPHI
A few years ago, Robson advocated for renaming the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne Park, a suggestion that former champions Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe also supported.
Wore rainbow-colored hairband because I believed in equal rights for everyone, said Laura Robson after Margaret Court's comments in 2012
Laura Robson lost to Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the 2012 Australian Open but made headlines for sporting a rainbow-colored hairband at the Margaret Court Arena.
After her match, the then 19-year-old player stated that she wore it since she believed in equal rights for everyone.
"It was just a rainbow-colored hairband," Robson said. "I didn't see anything about a protest today. I wore it because I believe in equal rights for everyone. That's it. It's not a protest, it's just a hairband. I never saw a direct quote from her [Court]. So I don't want to comment when I actually haven't spoken to her."