It’s no secret that former Tennis champion turned preacher Margaret Court isn’t a huge fan of the LGBTIQA+ communities, she’s spoken out against gay, lesbian and transgender people for decades.
Warning: This story has references to suicide which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
During the Sunday service of her Victory Life Church this week Court took another stab at people in the queer community. Describing transgender people and those choosing to be in same-sex relationships as having their minds taken by the devil.
“We need to be a praying church for the next generation, for the grandchildren, the children, and the grandchildren. We don’t to let the devil take. I hear things every week, something where a young person, such and such has happened, or somebody’s committed suicide, or somebodies decided already they’re not a boy anymore, they’re a girl, or somebody says ‘Hey, I’m going into a gay relationship. Healthy young people. Why – because the devil is after the mind.” Pastor Court declared.
“Satan is the deceiver of the brethren, he is the accuser of the brethren.” Pastor Court said. “He’ll come and he’ll plant a thought, and that thought, and you think about young ones today, he plants a thought there ‘Oh, I don’t think you’re a girl’, ‘Oh, you’re not a boy.’ He plants a thought, and that gets down into the feelings, into the emotions.”
In a live-stream broadcast Court spoke about conflict in the Middle East and said the country of Israel was covered in the “blood of Jesus”, and said it was a time of “great awakening.” Before going on to say “enemies” were trying to create a third world war.
The 81-year-old pastor’s sermon included a claim that children were being brainwashed in schools and suggested that religious values needed to be reinstated into the school curriculum. Pastor Court said people should not trust the media saying comments attributed to her during the debate over same-sex marriage had not been accurate.
“Don’t believe what you read in the press, there’s such a spirit of deception in media, television – it’s all around us.” she said.
Back in 2017 Pastor Court spoke about transgender youth in a radio interview mentioning the devil, and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. She later denied making the comments saying they had been fabricated by the media, despite their being audio recordings of the exchange.
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If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, support and counselling are available from:
QLife: 1800 184 527 / qlife.org.au (Webchat 3pm – midnight)
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Discharged is a trans-led support service with peer support groups for trans and gender diverse folks.
Lifeline: 13 11 14 / lifeline.org.au
Beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 / www.beyondblue.org.au
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