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As a result of homophobic comments made by Australian tennis legend Margaret Court, gay rights activists plan to show their annoyance in a “peaceful, non-disruptive” way by flying rainbow flags at the Australian Open tennis tournament.

The activists took exception to comments made by Margaret Court in an interview in December, when she said that homosexuals were “aggressively demanding marriage rights that are not theirs to take.” In response to being challenged about her views, the 69-year-old, who is now an ordained pastor, said that she was not against homosexuals, merely their “choice” of how to live their lives.

The protestors response to these comments is to make sure that rainbow flags are seen at the Australian Open, specifically at the Margaret Court Arena. Organisers are hoping that many of the 2,000 people who are following events on a Facebook page, will turn up for the event with a rainbow flag.

Doug Pollard, the leader of the protest, said that the comments made by Court were undesirable and a considerable, but calm response was needed.

“We are not asking for a lot of noise,” he said. “We just want to say that we don’t agree with all the lies Margaret Court has been peddling. People think that she has got away with it for too long and have heard enough of her trading in on her tennis halo.”

Two former tennis champions, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, who are both gay themselves, have criticised Court’s comments.

Navratilova said, “Her myopic view is truly frightening as well as damaging to the thousands of children already living in same-gender families. I have tried to talk to Margaret but to say she’s completely close-minded on the issue is an understatement.”