September 20, 1973. It was at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Over 30,000 came to watch a tennis match unlike any other. It was a best three-out-of-five set singles tennis match. On one side of the court was a man. And on the other a woman. Both had won Wimbledon, the Super Bowl of its sport. Both had boasted they’d beat the other. But only one of them was going to come out on top. Who was going to win? Bobby Riggs? Or Billie Jean King? All the men rooted for Bobby. Except for one, that is, (Lawrence W. King) who cheered along with the women for their King. For Bobby, it was just another tennis match. For Billie, it meant the rest of her life. And the legacies of all the other women in sports. As well as other professions. This tennis match would decide whether or not women could be capable of being a doctor, instead of a being a nurse. Just one example of a long list of professions that women before had been denied of practicing in. Billie Jean King was representing half of the human race inside the Dome. And she knew it more than any person at the staduim, as well as those watching at home. And she did not disappoint. This was the evening Bobby Riggs had to stop talking, and back up his words. Words that, in the end, were useless. It only took three sets for the 29-year-old native of Long Beach, California to fling her racket in triumph. 35 years later, women have advanced further in society than ever before. For the second time in American history this year, a woman in a major political party is on a Presidential ticket. Imagine what might happen 35 years from now! Though the Battle of the Sexes may not have single-handedly changed society’s attitudes towards women it has most certainly played a part in getting women closer to social equality. And we take this time to thank Billie Jean King for her contribution to the American Experience! We all love you, Billie!

This morning, I am watching World Team Tennis. During the commercial break, something illuminating occured. It was a Merrill Lynch commercial. In it was tennis legend Billie Jean King, discussing her life, from her dream of being the best tennis player in the world to accomplishing that goal, and doing more in the process. To me, it was a touching moment. Not only was it Billie Jean King in a commercial selling a product, but it was a fellow member of the LGBT community that was doing so. One must remember that in 1981, when Marilyn Barnett sued King for palimony (the two had been on-and-off lovers while Billie Jean was married to her then-husband Larry), all corporate sponsors dumped the 39-time Grand Slam champ as nothing more than just another queer on the block. King lost over $1.5 million, and was forced to play another two seasons on the WTA tour just to pay lawyers backing Billie Jean in a case that eventually turned out in King’s favor.

Though Billie Jean was not the first LGBT athlete to come out openly as gay (football player David Kopay and baseball player Glenn Burke had preceeded her), she, like all LGBT athletes suffered. When Martina Navratilova came out, just months after the Barnett/King story broke, Martina, like Billie Jean, lost her endorsements as well. However in the years to come, with America’s growing tolerance of homosexuality (as well as pro-gay products willing to be endorsed by out celebrities), athletes like Greg Louganis, Billy Bean, Ameile Mauresmo, Sheryl Swoopes, and John Amechi have all come clean with their life stories, and the struggles that go with it.

And maybe the King commercial has something to do with it. In the last decade, Navratilova did an ad for Sabaru, entertainer Ellen Degeneres endorsed Visa, and Olivia has served as an outlet for many of today’s out and well-known lesbians, including Rosie O’Donnell. In other words, the corporate homophobia that turned Billie Jean King into a pariah in 1981 has very much changed its perception on gays at the present time. And with a new generation of young girls getting to know the history of women in sport, they can look up to that little girl from Long Beach who dreamed big and accomplished big.

God bless Billie Jean King.

When I read the article of Maria Sharapova playing her first round Wimbledon match in a white tuxedo top, without the arms and shoulders, and shorts that looked like a business suit, it made me think of Ted Tinling.

For those of you who have not a clue of Ted Tinling, he was the late fashion designer for countless female tennis players for many decades, decorating dresses for such notable champions, like Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert. It was Tinling who designed King’s dress for her “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match in 1973 against Bobby Riggs.

Tinling, who was openly gay, had his controversial moments with the tennis establishment. In 1949, for example, while working as a player liason at Wimbledon, designed a racy outfit for Gertrude Moran, to the shock and ire of the otherwise traditionally conservative tournament executives, which barred him until 1982.

But “Teddy” was a darling to those that wore his designs. In 1970, he became the courtuier for the Virginia Slims Women’s Tour (now known as the Women’s Tennis Association). And as tennis became a professional sport (the Open Era began in 1967), and the fashion world fluctuated, the rest of the tennis world was ready to welcome Tinling back.

Back to Maria Sharapova now. She is no doubt the darling of the All England Club, having won her first Grand Slam title there in 2004. And fashion is something the 21-year old Russian native is no stranger to. One must point out that in 2006, Maria, paying homage to late actress Audrey Hepburn, won the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, wearing a black dress, similar to what Hepburn wore in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Sharapova is unequically, the kind of tennis player Ted Tinling, who died in 1990, would be proud of. Her sense of fashion does not, by any ways or means, interrupt her game. Maria is very self-centered, and very concentrated at every moment. This has made her one of the finest attractions to the sport. And despite being seeded third this year at Wimbledon, Sharapova is a likely threat to win the title, as heavyweight contemporaries Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, and Justine Henin have since retired from the sport.

Billie Jean King, the pioneering force of women’s sports, and the winner of 39 grand slams will release Pressure is a Priviledge: Lessons I’ve learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes, with Christine Brennan. This 192-page book will be published by LifeTime Media, and will hit the shelves as soon as July 28, according to its Barnes & Noble page.

If you are a King fanatic (like myself), or simply a tennis fan, this is one book you cannot live without. Pressure is a Priviledge is a reminder to all tennis players and fans, especially the women, how far Billie Jean has brought the sport over the last forty years. You cannot go without this book. This is a must-read.

First she fought to make tennis a professional sport. Then she fought the inequities of women by forming a league of their own. After that she shut the mouths of every male chauvinist pig by defeating Bobby Riggs at the Astrodome.

She opened a door to women athletes throughtout the world. And after being outed by a jealous lover, she threw herself into GLBT politics, becoming an inspiration to athletes of all sexual preferences.

But it isn’t just the athletes who have benefit from her ever generous heart. Just ask the senior citizens at the RainbowVision retirement center in Palm Beach, Florida.

The winner of 39 grand slam tennis titles has designed a tennis and fitness center for the first GLBT retirement center approved by the city of Palm Beach.

Another good reason to appreciate Billie Jean King. She cares a lot for all kinds of people, young and old, able and disabled, GLBT or straight. She cares about them all. An enormous gift from such an enormous woman.

And what she did was a good thing. Because not everybody cares about everybody, which is a sad thing. If any one person out there, gay or srtaight, sports fan or not, needs a role model to look up to, look up to Billie Jean King. She’s awesome.