A Canberra doctor says she will hand back her Order of Australia Medal after it was revealed controversial tennis great .
Clara Tuck Meng Soo, who was recognised in 2016 for her work as a medical practitioner with LGBTIQ+ and HIV positive communities, says the decision to award Australia's highest honour to Court, who has been disparaging of same-sex relationships and transgender people, was "very distressing".
"The impression that the Council for the Order of Australia is giving to the Australian public is they seem to be rewarding her for all the hurtful, derogatory comments that she's made about the LGBTIQ+ community," she said.
"Whether or not that was the intention, the actions ... give the impression that, at the very least, they condone the sorts of remarks she has been making."
Court's appointment as Companion of the Order of Australia - the highest recognition available as part of the Australia Day Honours system - was leaked on Friday, days before recipients were set to be announced.
Margaret Court has been appointed a Companion to the Order of Australia. Source: AAP
The 78-year-old Pentecostal minister has come under fire in recent years for her views on same-sex marriage, homosexuality and transgender people.
"If the honour awards people like Margaret Court, it is sending a message to the community that is okay to make hateful, derogatory comments about disadvantaged segments of the community," Dr Soo said.
"And I felt that if I actually retained my award, I would be condoning that system."
A statement issued by advocacy group Just Equal on Saturday identified Dr Soo as one of the first doctors in Australia to undergo a gender transition.
"I have spent a significant amount of my working life working with and advocating for disadvantaged communities in Australia," Dr Soo said in the statement.
"I may also add that I have spent most of my adult life as a gay man before my gender transition to a woman in 2018.
"I, therefore, have both professional experience as well as lived experience of the communities that Mrs Margaret Court makes these derogatory and hurtful remarks about."
Just Equal spokesperson Ivan Hinton-Teoh has urged the Council of the Order of Australia to reconsider its decision.
He said there would be "many distinguished Australians" reconsidering their association with the awards system in light of the honour.
In an interview with AAP this week, Court - the winner of an unparalleled 24 grand slam singles titles - described the honour as a great privilege.
"All my life I've had those views and I was just saying what the Bible says," she said.
"I should always be able to say my views biblically, being a pastor and helping people with marriages and family. And I'll never change those views.
"I have nothing against people - I love the people. We have them come into our community services, all kinds - whether they're gay, transgender, whatever they are.
"We never turn a person away and I think it's been tried to be made out that I'm somebody that I'm not really. And I think that is very sad."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to comment on Court's appointment, stating the compilation of the Honours List was an independent process.
Meanwhile, a growing number of MPs have flagged concerns about the Australia Day Honours system, calling for more transparency about how the recipients are chosen in light of analysis from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers which showed women were significantly less likely to recognised than men.
Labor MP Linda Burney told SBS News Dr Soo's decision to hand back her award was "absolutely understandable", describing her as a "profoundly impressive Australian".
She also repeated calls for a more transparent approach to the system, in which the Council of the Order of Australia reveals "who they are, how they make their decisions, and on what basis those decisions are made".
"The Australia Day Honours should reflect what Australia is, and that is an amazing, vibrant, multicultural Australia with the basis of 60,000 years of history brought to it by First Nations people."
With AAP
