Billie Jean King has just received another honor; not a plaque or award, but an entire tennis center has been renamed in her honor. At the official ceremony, held Aug. 28 on the first day of this year's U.S. Open, King was yet again recognized for her legacy in tennis and her fight for women's equality in sports with the naming of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
'I'm really happy that I can share this with everybody,' said King, who was busy making plans for the tennis center's reopening ceremonies when we talked. 'One thing is to stop and enjoy the moment with my family and with the world.'
King won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 13 U.S. Open championships. Playing at Wimbledon in 1962 at age 18, King won the doubles championship, the first of 20 Wimbledon titles she would eventually own. By 1967, King was the first woman in almost 30 years to take the triple crown of singles, doubles and mixed doubles championships at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Even those who aren't tennis fans may remember her 1973 resounding win over Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes' challenge match. At the time, the match was the most viewed sports event in television history, and drew the largest in-person attendance in tennis history—more than 30,000—at the Houston Astrodome.
As one of the most prominent out lesbians in athletics, King acknowledges her prominence in gay history, but says an athlete's sexual orientation 'should be a nonissue over time.'
Citing French tennis champion Amelie Mauresmo, who is also a lesbian, King says, 'I think she's great. She didn't lose any endorsements when she came out.'
King added, 'I think sports are wonderful for [ visibility ] . We can reach out and celebrate our differences. I'm thrilled as a woman and lesbian that this has happened.'
Despite such advances, King still sees inequity in athletics. 'Men in sports get about $25 billion, and women have $1 billion,' she says. 'Ninety percent of the media's run by men. When we get attention, it's in the men's arena.'
This is part of why King founded the Women's Tennis Association in 1973 and the Women's Sports Foundation a year later. After retiring from tennis in 1984, King continued her work toward equal opportunity for women athletes.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., King, 62, credits her supportive family with helping her decide to become a great tennis player at a young age. 'I think it was my destiny by age 11,' she says.
King's father died earlier this year, and she remembers him fondly. 'He was just so sweet to me and my dreams,' she says. 'He just totally got it. When I said I wanted to be the number one tennis player in the world, he said, 'Well, if this is what my daughter wants.' He treated his daughter's aspirations with the same encouragement as his son's.' King's brother, Randy Moffitt, is a former major-league baseball relief pitcher.
King has lived in New York for 30 years. Previously, she lived in Berkeley and San Mateo, Calif., where, in 1971, with her then-husband, Lawrence King ( whom she married in 1965 ) , she started an annual tournament now known as the Bank of the West Classic. 'Not only was I playing, but I was worrying about court conditions, making sure there were enough towels.'
Having created more tennis and sports opportunities for women, King is also aware of the possible excess in the number of tournaments and the effect on top-ranked players.
'We need to have less tournaments at the top level,' she says. 'Players need to be healthy. It's tough and extremely demanding. There are so many injuries.'
Being in the sports-media spotlight for decades, King is also aware of the difference between the portrayals of male and female athletes. 'The press tends to talk about women's injuries more than men's,' she says. 'It's very interesting. Sometimes people don't realize what they're portraying.'
In the early '80s, King's sexuality became front-page news when Marilyn Barnett, her former secretary and lover, sued her for palimony. Although King acknowledged the affair, the case was dismissed; King later divorced her husband and came out.
Since then, she's been honored by many LGBT organizations, including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Human Rights Campaign. On Sept. 28, King will be honored with former NFL player Esera Tuaolo at San Francisco's GLBT Historical Society's ( GLBTHS's ) annual gala. ( Jim Provenzano is the guest curator of 'Sporting Life: GLBT Athletics and Cultural Change from the 1960s to Today,' the main exhibit at San Francisco's GLBTHS. )
Regarding these numerous honors, King remains humble. 'When I look at my own name [ on the tennis center ] , I think of how lucky I've been, but also how if you dream big and go for it, hopefully other people will want to make a difference,' she says. 'It's the little things, the accumulation of doing the right thing day after day.'
Her visibility as an out lesbian sports icon has had a great impact on fighting homophobia in sports. However, King says, 'It's got to come from all levels,' including at schools and universities. 'The top athletes can help, because we get so much exposure. But I don't consider us the real sheroes and heroes. I find that at the community level.
'It's very important that people can have the freedom to live their lives,' she says. 'The more people know someone [ gay ] personally, it really does change how people think. The more comfortable people are, the better it gets. You're never going to have everyone on the same page, though. But the more younger people come out, the better. That's where the next great sheroes and heroes are.'
Jim Provenzano is the author of the novels PINS and Monkey Suits. Read more sports articles at www.sportscomplex.org . He can be reached at sportscomplex@qsyndicate.com .
