Billie Jean King

Who Is Billie Jean King?
Born on November 22, 1943, in Long Beach, California, Billie Jean King became the top-ranked women's tennis player by 1967. In 1973, she formed the Women's Tennis Association and famously defeated Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes." The first prominent female athlete to admit her homosexuality, King continued her work as an influential social activist after retiring from tennis.

Billie Jean switched from softball to tennis at age 11, on a suggestion from her parents, when Billie Jean was looking for a more ladylike sport. She saved her own money, $8, to buy her first racket. Billie Jean learned tennis on the many free public courts in Long Beach, taking advantage of the free lessons tennis professional offered at those courts. Billie Jean attended. After graduating, she attended (Cal State LA). Billie Jean did not graduate, leaving school in 1964 to focus on tennis. While attending Cal State Billie Jean met in a library. The pair became engaged while still in school when Billie Jean was 20 and Larry 19 years old and married on September 17, 1965 in Long Beach.

King is an American former World No. 1professional tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King won the singles title at the inaugural WTA Tour Championships. King often represented the United States in the Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup. She was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three years, King was the United States' captain in the Federation Cup.

Activist
Equal pay activist, WTA AND WTT

Never shy about speaking her mind, King jolted the tennis establishment with her views that the sport needed to shed its country-club image and offer equal payouts to both genders. In 1970, she joined the brand-new Virginia Slims Tour for women, and in 1971, she became the first female athlete to top $100,000 in prize money in a single year. But she simmered over the smaller paychecks earned by her peers.

In 1973, King spearheaded the formation of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Leveraging her position as its most celebrated player, she threatened a boycott of the 1973 U.S. Open if the pay inequality was not addressed. Her demands met, the U.S. Open became the first major tournament to offer equal prize money to women and men.

The following year, King and her husband founded the World TeamTennis (WTT) co-ed circuit. As player-coach of the Philadelphia Freedoms, she was one of the first women to coach professional male athletes.

Empowering Women

Perhaps no other sporting event has played a more significant role in developing greater respect and recognition for women athletes than the Battle of the Sexes. Billie Jean’s victory, together with the passage of Title IX, is often credited with both igniting a boom in women’s sports participation, and for empowering women to advocate for equal pay in all sectors of the workforce

Testifying in Washington
Billie Jean King had spent the 1960s and early 1970s campaigning tirelessly for parity for women in sports, and in 1972, she turned her focus toward helping to pass Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in all federally funded school programs, including sports.

Demonstrating extraordinary courage and leadership, Billie Jean King took to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of Title IX and to speak to its need in order for girls and women to advance in their sport.

Title IX’s Impact

The impact of Title IX on women’s sports is significant. The law opened doors and removed barriers for girls and women, and while female athletes and their sports programs still have fewer teams, fewer scholarships, and lower budgets than their male counterparts, since Title IX’s passage, female participation at the high school level has grown by 1057 percent and by 614 percent at the college level.

The impact of Title IX stretches into professional sports as well. More opportunities have emerged for young women to turn their sport into their career, particularly in the WNBA. Collegiate and professional coaching opportunities have increased as well.

Billie Jean King created the in part to protect the sports side of Title IX.

Title IX remains the only law that grants women any kind of equality in America.

Acknowledging Her Sexuality
The budding tennis star married Larry King in 1965, but soon found herself wrestling with her feelings for other women. Her private affairs were thrust into public view with a lawsuit brought by her former female personal assistant and lover in 1981. The first prominent woman athlete to admit her homosexuality, King lost her endorsements but became a torchbearer for the LGBT community. She divorced her husband in 1987, and settled into a long-term relationship with former player Ilana Kloss.

Tennis and LGBT Ambassador
Named to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987, King remained closely tied to the sport throughout the 1990s as a television commentator. She also served as captain of the U.S. team at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2006, the New York City facility that hosts the U.S. Open was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in her honor.