2) Billie Jean King: Born on November 22, 1943, Billie Jean King is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 12 singles, 16 women's doubles, and 11 mixed doubles titlesKing is an advocate for sexual equality.
Then 29 years old, King won the Battle of the Sexes tennis match against the 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in 1973, and was the founder of the Women's Tennis Association, World TeamTennis (with former husband Larry King), and the Women's Sports Foundation.
In the late 1960s King began to have affairs with women. She had a natural marriage with Larry King, but their relationship was extremely distant as her career blossomed.
She had kept her attraction towards and relationships with women hidden for long.
In 1981, she reluctantly came out a lesbian when Marilyn Barnett (an ex-lover and personal secretary), ousted her by filing a very public palimony suit. Although King admitted the affair to the world, she called it a “mistake” and tried to hide behind her marriage.
Later King said that coming out publicly as a lesbian was her “longest, hardest journey”. Presently she has become an international leader in seeking recognition and equal rights for gays and lesbians.
The main reason, she admitted, she didn't come out publicly was the fear of losing all sponsors.
