No Match fo the Opposition

Billie Jean King doesn’t like the heat. That’s why, she explains from the comfort of her Chicago office, she left the West Coast. Some might speculate, however, that things got too hot for the Southland tennis legend after she admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman in 1981.

But King, now 55, was never one to wilt in the face of opposition--whether on the court or in a courtroom. Her confidence and aggressive nature propelled her to the top of the tennis heap and kept her on the competitive circuit well into her 30s. It also helped her wage a solid defense when ex-lover Marilyn Barnett lobbed a palimony lawsuit her way in 1981.

In those days, homosexuality didn’t adorn the headlines the way it does today. Long before “Ellen,” “Roseanne” or “Melrose Place” put gay characters in American living rooms, the palimony scandal embarrassed King and pushed her into the toughest contest of her life. Instead of cowering in defeat, however, she called a news conference. Against the advice of her lawyers and friends, King admitted the truth to the world. While many fans showed support, some chastised the athlete. Even some members of the gay community expressed anger, because she called the affair “a mistake” and adamantly distanced herself from the homosexual lifestyle.

“I was definitely raised to be homophobic,” says King, who grew up in a conservative Long Beach household in the 1950s. “My parents, the people around me were all homophobic.”

How ironic, then, that the gay and lesbian community is embracing King now and will honor her at its annual Women’s Night ’99 gala on Saturday. Not only will King be acknowledged for her activism and fund-raising efforts, she will receive the 1999 Community Role Model award.

She has, it appears, come a really long way.

She Upgraded Purses in Women’s Tennis

Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, King was a hero and role model for young female athletes. In those days, the purses and publicity for women’s tennis were minute compared with today. Women’s tournaments were sometimes played in high school gymnasiums, and players’ travel expenses and incentive money came from under the table.

While it was a heady time for King, who was collecting victories over the likes of Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong and the young Chris Evert, she was annoyed by the inequities of her sport. Why did the male U.S. Open champion get $12,500 and the female champion get only $1,500?

Rarely one to keep her opinions to herself, King regularly complained about the uneven playing field. The complaints were ignored, and, eventually, a handful of brave players, including King, formed the Women’s Tennis Assn. The risky venture succeeded in giving women better bargaining power and, later, bigger paydays for all players. King was destined to go down in history as a great champion as well as a pioneer for women’s athletics. She won 20 Wimbledon titles, ranked No. 1 in the world among female tennis players and founded the Women’s Sports Foundation.

In 1971, she was the first female athlete to earn $100,000 in a year.

In 1973, King defeated Bobby Riggs in the infamous “battle of the sexes.” With her victory came a degree of pride and vindication for female athletes young and old. The win was also a marketing coup, bringing tennis into more American homes. Her place in sports history was virtually sealed, until May of 1981.

When Barnett filed the palimony suit, “it was definitely a different world then,” says Lorri Jean, executive director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, who nominated King for the role model award.

“She was a major celebrity and her livelihood depended upon a lack of discrimination and bigotry.”

Even as a child, King hated labels. She and her brother, Randy, were taught tolerance and grew up trying to adhere to the golden rule.

“You don’t have to agree with anybody on their political beliefs, their religious beliefs or sexual orientation,” King says. “But the bottom line thing is to treat each other the way you’d want to be treated--that’s the golden rule. You cannot discount another human being because of their sexuality or their religion or their color and that is absolutely a major, fundamental truth.”

Speaking of the truth, King says now, she is a lesbian. At the time of her affair, she didn’t consider herself homosexual and said so at her news conference. With her parents and Larry, her husband of more than 15 years, at her side, she admitted to what had already been the source of great personal turmoil for more than a decade.

In the aftermath of the news conference, King lost millions of dollars in contracts. Hate mail poured in, and rumors spread that her marriage was a sham. Although her husband stood by her throughout the ordeal and they eventually won the lawsuit, the couple divorced in 1987. They still remain friends.

In retrospect, King says she is glad she came out with the truth.

“I got myself intact because of it,” she says. “Dedication to your truth is extremely important, if not the most important principle of life.”

She’s still asked whether, if she had it to do over, she would marry Larry, whom she met while both were students at Cal State L.A. “I say, ‘At 21 years of age, I was madly in love with Larry. I would definitely do it again. Would I do it again knowing what I know now? Absolutely not. But if you put me in the same place, same time, same information about myself, yes.’ ”

Coming to Terms With Sexual Identification

King’s identification with the gay community was a gradual process, not an instant realization, she says. She cited a study that states that while some people know their sexuality by age 13, others find out later. She was among the latter.

“People always say, ‘What do you mean you didn’t know?’ I’m like, ‘I’m telling you.’ ”

Today, King believes that she has changed “tremendously.” But in some ways, she has come full circle, living now by the same principles she lived by as a 15-year-old.

“By that golden rule,” she reiterates.

King is still as passionate as ever about equality and is putting her money and her mouth to work for it. Not surprisingly, her efforts for gay and lesbian rights are similar to the fight she once waged for women’s sports.

“Yeah,” she agrees, “this is the kind of stuff I did: ‘OK, come on everybody, we’ve gotta do this, we’ve gotta stick together.’ You gotta have one voice.” Rallying gay activists around the country, King has been lending her name to fund-raisers and taking an active role in raising money for programs that serve young people, such as the homeless youth shelter in Hollywood.

King is still a role model to young people, as evidenced by the picture of Billie Jean King hanging in one youngster’s room in the homeless shelter, “right next to Madonna’s,” Jean says. Along with King, the Gay and Lesbian Center will acknowledge Anne Heche as well, bestowing the Creative Integrity Award on the actress. By honoring well-known public figures and role models, Jean says, the world gets perhaps a different perspective on what it means to be gay or lesbian.

Recently, King established the Billie Jean King Foundation. She hopes to offer financial support and create equal opportunities for young people. In addition to providing support to gay and lesbian causes, the foundation also raises funds for a wide range of social services and health-related causes, including a program for young athletes with diabetes.

“It’s kind of exciting [because] I’ve always had this sense of destiny,” she says. “There’s one more thing I think that I need to do before I’m finished. Maybe it’s the foundation.”

King is also working for domestic partnership benefits. She hopes to use her marketing expertise--honed over the years on the tennis circuit--in directing companies to take the lead in offering benefits to same-sex couples.

“I get so irritated when people say we want extra this or we want special consideration,” King says indignantly. “We don’t want special, we want the same. Every human being, no matter the religion, color or sexual orientation, it’s the same--you don’t discount because of their sexuality, period, or their color or whatever. It’s pretty simple stuff.”

If public exposure of her affair left any long-term scars, they aren’t apparent now. King is still the feisty, confident, gregarious, friendly, competitive person that attracted the world’s attention more than 30 years ago.

Keeping Tennis in Her Life

Tennis is still her No. 1 sport. She’s been the director of World Team Tennis since 1985 and is part owner and one of the coaches of a team in that league called the Delaware Smash. She often participates in charity tennis tournaments--among her favorites is Elton John’s Smash Hits, an AIDS fund-raiser.

“I’ve been very lucky and fortunate in my life,” King says. “I’m very fortunate I found tennis, I’m very fortunate that I still have my health, and my mom and dad and my brother.”

In an average week King spends a couple days at the Team Tennis office, five minutes from home. The rest of the work week is spent in her home office in an apartment that overlooks Lake Michigan. She shares the apartment with her longtime partner, who’s not quite ready to see her name in print, King says.

“I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” King says. “I have a good life; I have great people who work for me; I have a great partner . . . I’m pretty well settled in. My family and I don’t lie anymore, which is a major breakthrough.”

As for her projects, she just hopes she can make a positive impact.

“Like the King-Riggs match,” she says, “for me, it was always about social change and helping move us forward. It wasn’t just about sports, it was about women, about men and how we treat each other, how we think about ourselves, asking for what you want and need.”

For now, she’ll continue to “do the homework,” she says, while she figures out just where she can be the most help.

Always the team player.