Billie Jean King is a goddess!

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This cunt again?

Billie Jean King is a g̶o̶d̶d̶e̶s̶s̶ lesbian

As she gets older, she looks more and more like Dianne Feinstein

I was scared of her when I was a wee little kid and saw her playing at Wimbledon (something about the glasses and her intense concentration and determination to win on court), felt sorry for her when she was thrown to the media hounds by her ex lover in that early '80s palimony suit, but grew to love her as she decided to take charge of her own life and fight the lgbt fight for all of us. She and Navratilova were the fucking BOMB throughout the '80s and '90s, without whom we'd probably only be half way to marriage equality by now.

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I was also initially a bit scared of her, R5. And I thought she was weird later when she had that afro. I was so young then that I didn't realize that she was making a political statement about civil rights with that hairdo.

Margaret Court is obsessed with us. Where there's smoke ...

I waited on her. She was cordial, didn't ask any dumb ingredient questions, left a good tip. Salad Nicoise.

Of course she went for the tuna!

I agree, r8. I have a feeling that, back in the day, people would just assume that Court was lesbian, which I'm sure only added to her homophobia.

Remember Martina Navratilova said all this and more in her open letter to an Australian newspaper during the French Open last year and for her it is personal since the homophobic insults after Martina won her 9th Wimbledon title in 1990.

first I was afraid, I was petrified

She has a Nurse Defarge quality

I remember seeing Billy Jean Elton John and Dame Edna with Jay Leno. Dame Edna took over and Billy Jean laughed hysterically because Edna was so funny. I think it is on youtube but can’t link it now.

^^^ Sorry, Billie

Twice. Once in a Fla tournament for a week. I was reporting, amazing week. Virginia Wade, Betty Stove, Everet, Rosie Casals I think. King was on when the Press hr arrived - very smart advocating for the new WTA. If it was down time she was quiet, off in her own world. She was still involved with Barnett. I was quite shy, though I had little interaction, she was always kind and engaging. I saw her again in early 2000’s at a Dinner honoring her coming out and work for the community. The woman you see in the media is what you get - enthusiastic. Lovely, just lovely. She really is quite the National Treasure.

Billy Jean, is Not my lover!!

She could have had it all with a better wig and some dental work

She’s got a bit of a Judy Garland/Liza Minnelli look going on.

She was the luncheon speaker at a corporate event a few years ago....close up, you could see a lot of powder/Foundation...but she looks good. I didn’t realize how difficult it was for women athletes in those days...a group of people from her local tennis club paid her first tournament fees. There were no scholarships...

I think she remains friendly with Elton John...I didn’t know Philadelphia Freedom referred to the tennis team back in the day...

At the Q & A there were a lot of questions about the Battle of the Sexes...

THREE LEGENDS!

Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert

Really R7, was Barbra Streisand making a statement about civil rights when she got that hairdo during the same time period? I think the hairdo was trendy at the time (and I'm pretty sure her lover Marilyn Barnett was the one who gave her the perm) and that was why she did it. Billie Jean, while admirable in many ways, has altered facts from the past to suit her own personal agenda on many occasions. She didn't even come out until the 2000s, and when she was outed by Barnett she claimed that it was a 'singular homosexual experience' and that she and her husband were trying to have a child. She's done a lot for the feminist cause (and that is indeed, admirable) but very little for the gay community, which is fine, we all have to do what we have to do, but let's not pretend that her history with the gay community can be in any way considered heroic.

R23, I don't think anyone on this thread was claiming that Billie Jean was such a long-time hero in the struggle for gay rights. But I do like that she recently called for Margaret Court Arena at the Aussie Open to be renamed. And I like that she said that she, herself, wouldn't play on the court if she were still on the tour today. This throws a gauntlet down for the other players, and I'm really curious to see who (if anyone) will refuse to play on Margaret Court Arena. I just wish that Andy Murray weren't injured now because I think that he would have been one of the players who would have boycotted that court.

An acquaintance was a neighbor of BJ and Marilyn and claims he used to do three-ways with them when he was 16 and they were quite a bit older.

She’s become insufferable.

Has she ever admitted that whole battle of the sexes farce was Bobby ‘rigged’?

Bull dyke alert

Billie Jean Elton John Dame Edna Jay Leno

R23 of course she didnt “do much” for LGBT rights - we are talking about the 1970’s. What was ANYONE doing for gay rights then? Stonewall was only in ‘69. The APA didnt drop “Homiosexuality” until ‘73. There was no room for us at all - it wasnt Kings lack of activism either.

King was ruined financially. She was busy organizing the Women’s Tennis Assoc for Pay Equality. LGBT rights wasnt even mainstream until the beginning of the 80’s and coincided with HIV/AIDS outbreak. When the landscape of America changed via Reagan and the onslaught of the very unchristian right - EVERYONE dove back in the closets terrified of violence against us.

In the 70’s King was busy changing the US for Title IX, fair distribution of money for women in Education. It was no “little thing.” It MORE than rivaled ANYTHING that would occur in America relating to LGBT rights since Title IX impacted 52% of American citizens. So quit with the derision. She had been destroyed over Bisexulaity but she could advocate for women.

King paid a far higher price, ultimately rising above it, having a MUCHmore profound impact on our Society. Her place is warranted.

Bill King is a handsome gal