Billie Jean King was in the news recently in an interview with tennis.com, covering how she was forced to come out way back in the 1970′s and the issue of being gay and out today in professional sports.

Every time I think about what Billie Jean went through, personally, professionally and publicly, I just feel so grateful for her (and women like her) and feel the need to remind everyone about her and the legacy she’s created.  Her story reminds me of other times when I feel the need to remind people ‘not to forget’ about human atrocities like the Holocaust, racism, etc.

I also had the luck, about 3-4 years ago, of meeting Billie Jean in Tempe, Arizona when she keynoted at Out and Equal’s Annual National Conference.  Before Billie Jean spoke, Out and Equal presented a film review of her life, and the contributions she’s made, to women’s equal rights, women’s sports, women’s tennis and to the GLBT community.  Wow – in addition to an amazing tennis career – this lady has done a heck of a lot for all of the above!  For example, I really didn’t know, until the film, how much Billie has done to advance women’s sports, going down all the way to the college and high school levels.

After Billie Jean’s presentation, I had the chance to share a picture with her and she graciously gave me her autograph on a conference hat, which I have safely tucked in my sports memorabilia collection.

The next time someone makes you feel invisible or ‘less than’, just remember Billie Jean most likely had it much worse in the 1970′s when she was ‘outed’ by her female lover, right when she was leaving tennis, leaving her in a financial crisis when all of her endorsements were cancelled.

Remember too that we still have so far to go. There still hasn’t been, as Billie Jean said in the tennis.com article, ‘any top ten out gay male tennis stars.’  This also holds true for most men’s professional sports leagues, by the way.  She emphasized how much we need our straight allies to stand up for us, so we can put the issue of sexual orientation ‘to rest’.  Yes, indeed, Billie.

Tags: gays and career, gays and sports, lesbians and career, lesbians and sports

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 at 2:18 am and is filed under Be Ready for Love, Committed Relationships, Family and Social Support, Lesbian Couples, Lesbian Dating, Lesbians, Love & Money, Marriage Equality, Parenting and Lesbian Relationships, Pre-Commitment-Is this the Relationship for Me?, Single Lesbians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.