The Gender Queen: Billie Jean King’s Queerty

Today it hones a very different significance than it did back then. Back in the 1970’s, when Billie Jean King coerced the founding of the first-ever professional women’s tennis tour, “queer” was used to allow LGBT people to gain ownership of their identity. They were different and even straight people who were quirky, odd or apart from mainstream society were a bit queer. Today queer has taken on the all-encompassing meaning that shades every letter of the gay alphabet from L-B-G-T-Q-I-A, etc. She may not have claimed to be the gender defining queen, but what Billie Jean King did for gender in sports was pioneering, miraculous and revolutionary.

She wanted women to own their gender identity. Be themselves, masculine or feminine. Be the female tennis players that weren’t afraid to play hard, sweat and share the court with their male counterparts. Not only was her style of play jaw-dropping and incredible, but her determination to demand gender equity in professional tennis was even more trailblazing.

First it was the launch of a women’s tour, sponsored by none other than Virginia Slims. Although this may have initially idealized women as non-sporty gentle beings, Billie Jean and her comrades quickly symbolized what it meant to be a Virginia Slims woman. They were feisty, embattled and motivated to show the world what they were cable of. She wanted women to own their personalities on and off the court – to be themselves, or to be queer.

Next, it was taking on the infamous Bobby Riggs in 1973. And yes, she beat him. That may have been the Mount Everest that King needed to climb in order to define what gender equality truly meant in the 70’s. Something that women had never had before, something that was queer.

Today, King has the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center named in her honor in NYC and is an International Tennis Hall of Famer. Without a doubt though, her greatest feat was paving the way for anyone who was queer in sports. Today, LGBT athletes can thank Billie Jean for being the first to step forward and say, yes I am different and it is ok to be who I am. Oh yeah, and she happens to be an out lesbian as well. But for Billie Jean, being queer was much more than her sexual orientation.