Billie Jean King And Martina Navratilova Respond To Australian Legend's Homophobic Rant

Margaret (Smith) Court is a former Australian tennis great turned pastor in something called the Victory Life Church. Earlier in the week she made statements with regard to homosexuality, marriage and political correctness. Some of her thoughts are listed below:

* "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."

* ""[Marriages between a man and a woman] are not perfect, often dysfunctional and despite the fact the role models may be distorted and even severely flawed, there is no reason to put forward alternative, unhealthy, unnatural unions as some form of substitute."

* "To dismantle this sole definition of marriage [as between a man and a woman] and try to legitimize what God calls abominable sexual practices that include sodomy, reveals our ignorance as to the ills that come when society is forced to accept law that violates their very own God-given nature of what is right and what is wrong."

* "The fact that the homosexual cry is, 'We can't help it as we were born this way', as the cause behind their own personal choice is cause for concern. Every action begins with a thought. There is a choice to be made."

Someone decided to track down two of the sport's more outspoken gay rights activists—and legends that people outside Australia have actually heard of—to see what they had to say. While Billie Jean King very politely called Court a homophobe, Martina Navratilova brought out the big guns. "Seems to me a lot of people have evolved as has the Bible, [for example regarding] slavery. Unfortunately, Margaret Court has not. Her myopic view is truly frightening as well as damaging to the thousands of children already living in same gender families." Navratilova wasn't finished. She said that she has tried to talked to Court "but to say she's completely close-minded on the issue is an understatement."

The Australian Open is next month and Margaret Court will be front and center as some of the most talented men and women play in Margaret Court Arena.

LaRosa's Sweet Spot: Taking it to Court [ Tennis Channel]