I can’t keep my medal while Court keeps hers

Iwas awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2016 for services to the Canberra community as a medical practitioner. Two days ago, I read tennis legend Margaret Court will be promoted to a Companion of the Order of Australia, our highest civilian honour.

Upon seeing this news, I contacted the office of the Governor-General to give notice that I would be returning my medal as a protest against Court’s award.

The Council for the Order of Australia will be aware of the many derogatory and hurtful remarks that Court has made about the LGBTIQ+ community and its supporters. By giving this promotion to her now, the council is sending a strong signal that discrimination and prejudice are not only tolerated but honoured in our Australian community.

As someone who has lived as a gay man and now as a transgender woman, I am aware of just how deeply hurtful Court’s outbursts can be to my community.

By opposing her elevation, I am not denying her right to freedom of speech. I am only concerned that she has used her position as a public figure to disseminate her harmful comments. Court, as a Pentecostal minister, asserts that her actions and beliefs are based on the teachings of the Bible and that she is being persecuted for that. Careful perusal of the Bible will show that she is extremely selective about the sections she wishes to use, and not use, in order to justify her beliefs.

She also makes inferences about biblical teachings to make pronouncements that have no biblical basis, such as her suggestion that the choices of transgender children are ‘‘of the devil, it’s not of God’’ . She cites Genesis and its reference to ‘‘male’’ and ‘‘female’’, but where does it ever make specific mention of transgender children?

Someone elevated to our highest civilian honour should not only have reached the pinnacle of endeavour but should be considered a role model by the rest of the Australian community. I do not believe someone who has made derogatory comments about the LGBTIQ+ community publicly would be regarded as such a role model.

I know from observing the US over the past four years that divisive actions aimed at one segment of a community are damaging for the community as a whole.

I am confident that most Australians will believe that the Council for the Order of Australia has made an error in the case of Margaret Court. I ask that it reconsider its decision.

Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo is a Canberra-based doctor.