Billie Jean King Interview: A Tennis Legend's Journey to Social Change

Billie Jean King recalls discovering tennis at the age of 11, how she paid for her first racket, and why she instantly fell in love with the sport after her first lesson. King discusses how she used tennis as a platform for her life’s work to fight for equal rights, her role in the birth of professional women’s tennis in 1971, the importance of Title IX, and explains why she decided to play Bobby Riggs in 1973’s Battle of the Sexes - “It wasn’t about tennis, it was about history and social change.”
Billie Jean King was born Billie Jean Moffitt on November 22, 1943 in Long Beach, California to parents Bill, a firefighter, and Betty, a homemaker. King played basketball and softball as a child. Her younger brother, Randy, went on to pitch in Major League Baseball. King began playing tennis at the age of 11 and immediately fell in love with the sport. In 1958, King won her age bracket in the Southern California championship. She first garnered international attention in 1961, when she and Karen Hantze Susman became the youngest pair to win the Wimbledon doubles title. King attended California State University, Los Angeles from 1961-1964 and competed in tennis tournaments while also working as a tennis instructor. In 1965, she married law student Larry King. In her tennis career she won 39 Grand Slam titles and led the fight for equal pay in tennis. Known for beating Bobby Riggs in 1973’s “Battle of the Sexes,” King also helped establish the Women’s Tennis Association, the organization that oversees women’s professional tennis. King was publicly outed as a lesbian in 1981 and immediately lost all her endorsement deals. After the news broke, her representatives urged her not to confirm it, but King refused to deny her lesbianism. She and her husband divorced in 1987. King then began a relationship with her current partner, Illana Kloss, a fellow professional tennis player. King retired from competition in 1983. King coached the U.S. Fed Cup team from 1995-1996 and 1998-2003, bringing home victories in 1999 and 2000. In 1990, Life magazine named King one of the “100 Most Important Americans” of the twentieth century. In 2009, President Barack Obama presented King with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for championing the rights of women and the LGBTQ community. King and Kloss founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative in 2014, a non-profit organization that seeks to rid workplaces of discrimination based on race, gender, and sexuality.
From the 2013 PBS Documentary “Makers: Women Who Make America”, examines how women have helped shape America over the past 150 years, striving for a full and fair share of political power and economic opportunity.
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Billie Jean King, Former World No. 1 Tennis Player and Activists
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[@Texaslawhorn]

I am currently reading Billie Jean's autobiography. I admire her so much. I've had the great pleasure of being in the same audience with her during a few tennis matches for World Team Tennis, and that was a thrill! 🎾❤️

[@LH-fp8kr]

Hats off to Ms. King....respect, admiration. Thank you for your monumental achievement for all women.

[@jacquelineneaton2488]

Thank you, Billie! You are still inspiring us to understand we can be complete people, both women and men.

[@markwhitman9029]

Love Billie Jean with such respect more NOW then when younger. This was a very insightful and an inspiration to all new generations of both boys and girls. I also love her support for diversity and the LGBTQ community. Kudos to Billie and hoping that she lives a long long time❤