Billie Jean King, Emma Stone & Andrea Riseborough on King’s Landmark Tennis Win for Women and LGBT Rights
Published to The Rainbow Times on October 5, 2017
Lesbian sports pioneer Billie Jean King would, in due course, take her victory beyond the tennis court, to the front lines of equality for women and LGBT people alike. But first, there was her legendary face-off with her much older, goonish opponent, Bobby Riggs.
Famously coined “Battle of the Sexes,” the game transcended the court, marking a milestone in the fight for equality as it blazed an important trail for minorities in sports, after King crushed her sexist rival during the nationally televised match in 1973 at the Houston Astrodome.