At Australian Open, Margaret Court v. Gay Rights Activists

LGBT rights activists are planning a solidarity rally at next week's Australian Open to protest tennis legend Margaret Court's position against marriage rights for same-sex couples.

The Associated Press reports:

[Court's] stance has spurred the creation of a Facebook group, "Rainbow Flags Over Margaret Court Arena," which is urging spectators to display rainbow-colored gay pride banners at the show court that bears her name during the Australian Open, which begins Monday.

Court, 69, told local media in Dec. 2011 in Perth, Western Australia, where she now lives that "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."

"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," the 69-year-old Court said in a December interview with The West Australian in Perth, where she lives. (Read the article here, via Washington Post.)

Fellow champions Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, and Rennae Stubbs have all recently spoken out against Court's comments.

Last month, the country's ruling Labor party changed its platform to support gay marriage, although a conscience vote on the issue is not expected to pass parliament anytime soon.