Forty-three years ago today, Billie Jean King made history by beating star tennis player and blatant misogynist Bobby Riggs in the much anticipated "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match. Bobby Riggs spent the preceding months taunting King and all female athletes, saying things like "I’ll tell you why I’ll win. She’s a woman and they don’t have the emotional stability," and "women belong in the bedroom and kitchen, in that order." Of course, King went on to easily win the match in front of 30,492 spectators and a televised audience of about 50 million. This crucial victory (along with the passage of Title IX a year prior) created an upsurge in women's sports at the time.
Besides this famous match, Billie Jean King's athletic accomplishments include: thirty-nine Grand Slam titles, being the first female athlete to make $100,000 in one year, a record 20 championships at Wimbleton, the number one ranking for the world's best female tennis players, and more. But what she did off the court was just as incredible and far more influential. Much like Colin Kaepernick today, Billie Jean King used her athletic fame to promote equality and justice. As one of the first openly gay female athletes, she became an advocate for LGBT and women's rights. Here are thirteen quotes that highlight her activism and her struggle:
1. "It's just really important that we start celebrating our differences. Let's start tolerating first, but then we need to celebrate our differences."
2. "No one changes the world who isn't obsessed."
3. "The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing."
5. "I wanted to use sports for social change."
6. "Ever since that day when I was 11 years old, and I wasn't allowed in a photo because I wasn't wearing a tennis skirt, I knew that I wanted to change the sport."
7. "That is where the power, opportunity, and choice come from-when you have money. Money equals opportunity. There is no question."
9. "I didn't really care if I had a coach that much, me personally, because I was brought up to think for myself."
10. "I think it's impossible to judge whether another person should come out. You just hope they will on their own time and their own terms."
