Billie Jean King was told not to come out 45 years ago. She did it anyway.

This interview with tennis legend, trailblazer and human rights advocate Billie Jean King is part of Outsports’ monthlong series for Women’s History Month, “How women have led the way out of the closet in sports.”

When Billie Jean King came out publicly 45 years ago this spring, virtually everyone in her world told her not to.

It’s easy to understand why.

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No active professional athlete — man or woman — had come out publicly as gay before. Plus, everything was going smoothly in King’s public life. The Women’s Tennis Assn. that she had founded in 1973 was flourishing. Already well-known in tennis circles as a former No. 1 player, King was a household name after defeating Bobby Riggs in the famous “Battle of the Sexes.” 

In the early 1980s, her career was in its final years, but she was getting sponsorship opportunities. She was a hero. Everyone knew who Billie Jean King was. 

Why rock the boat?

Yet in 1981 — still married to her then-husband, Larry — King was the defendant in a palimony lawsuit brought by a woman named Marilyn Barnett, with whom King had had an affair for several years.

“She was claiming all these different claims that people do,” King recently told Outsports. “Her lawyer hired a PR firm before this. She thought I would never come out because she knew how delicate it was for our business and making sure everybody had the chance to play. We didn’t want the tour to go bye-bye.”

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Would coming out in 1981 put the WTA Tour at risk?

The Women’s Tennis Assn. in 1981 was the blossoming result of King’s career-long ambition to build a sustainable women’s pro tennis tour that empowered and supported its players. Around the same time as forming the WTA, she had negotiated equal pay for women at the U.S. Open.

Yet out of the public eye, even as she was earning sport-changing wins for women, King was going through something else that would elevate her growing reputation as one of the sports world’s greatest pioneers: She was questioning her orientation. 

“In the ‘70s, when we started with this professional tennis tour, some people in the business knew I was struggling with trying to figure out who I am,” King said. “They said, ‘Whatever you do, if you say one thing about the tour or about anything right now, we will not have a tour.’ So that was really easy for me because I wasn’t going to jeopardize our tour, our future, with just something about me as an individual.”

So in 1981, with 12 Grand Slam singles titles in her resume and considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time, it was no surprise that her lawyer, publicist and seemingly everyone else around King told her to deny it.

“I knew Marilyn thought I’d never come out. But I thought about my own life. I thought about how my mom had taught me to be truthful. I thought, ‘Well, who am I? I have to be me. Who is that?’ That would be to tell the truth.”

Her lawyer, Dennis Wasser, and her publicist, Pat Kingsley, told her she had the potential to lose everything. Every little aspect of her life would change drastically.

Billie Jean King’s announcement that changed the world

King heard them all. And then she chose a different course for herself and for gay and lesbian athletes everywhere.

“I finally said that I’m going to tell the truth,” King remembered. “I told my PR person that I wanted them to hold a press conference and I’m going to tell the truth. They told me I couldn’t do that but I told them that I am doing it.

“I argued for 48 hours in a row with my lawyer and PR person. I told them to please get a press conference together.”

Adamant against it, Kingsley honored King’s wish. 

“She got her whole office behind it to pull it off,” King remembered. “Within 48 hours, I flew from New York to Los Angeles with Larry. He wanted to be there because we were still seeing each other in life.”

She and Larry walked into the press conference, held at a hotel by Los Angeles International Airport, reporters everywhere. Cameras were flashing, Larry introduced Billie Jean, and then she did something no professional athlete had done before. 

“Ive decided to talk with you like I’ve always talked, and that’s from my heart,” King told the crowd of reporters in Los Angeles on May 1, 1981.

“I’ve always felt it’s very important that people have their privacy. And unfortunately someone in my life doesn’t think it’s very sacred. I did have an affair with Marilyn Barnett. It’s been over for quite some time. And I’m very disappointed and shocked that Marilyn has done this not only to herself, and in a very self-destructive way.”

“When I told the truth, you could hear a pin drop with the press. In the old days, we didn’t have social media and this was the way we told our story,” she said. 

In the months that followed, King said she lost nearly everything. 

“It was a really bad time because I needed to start all over. But it was also a good time because I told the truth. But boy, what a cost.”

Shortly after King came out publicly, she was followed by fellow tennis great Martina Navratilova, who also reported losing endorsement deals and suffering a serious financial cost.

“I am so happy that cost is not here today,” King said. “That’s why you do these things for future generations, at least I do.”

Continuing to inspire future generations

Years later, King would also be followed out of the closet by two-time Grand Slam champion Amélie Mauresmo. Now multiple out gay athletes play on the WTA Tour.

Inspiring future generations of not only LGBTQ athletes but athletes in general is something King holds with pride. It’s an aspect of herself she’s held since she was a preteen. 

“I’ve always thought about future generations. I promised myself at 12 I would try to be No. 1 so I could help the world be a better place. I wanted to be able to influence and do those things.

“Living my truth was an opportunity I thought would help the community and hopefully make it easier for future generations when they come out. I want people to be able to feel comfortable in their truth.” 

These days, coming out is gaining normalcy. The need for a gay pro athlete to hold press conference to confirm their identity has often been replaced by a simple post with a partner on social media.

Being out is a lot safer than the ‘70s and ‘80s. Professional sports teams in leagues hold Pride Nights to welcome and celebrate the LGBTQ community.

King and her wife, Ilana Kloss, are minority owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks and Angel City FC. The duo is still advocating for the advancement of women’s sports and LGBTQ inclusion in sports including advocating for transgender people to compete. 

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The impact King continues to have stems beyond her play on the tennis court. She’s had people from all over the world, including flight attendants on planes and families with kids, approach her to offer their appreciation. 

“Coming out has been worth it. It took the second half of my lifetime, but it’s been fantastic. I mean, look at the progress. We still have a long way to go, but the progress is there. We need to be helping each other and listening to each other’s stories,” said King.

“I still have people come up and thank me for that moment. It helped change their life for the better. They finally started to live with themselves first and then also to breathe and find their way to be happier.”

King got the ball rolling for LGBTQ athletes to embrace who they are. At a time when being out was frowned upon, she believed in herself, spoke her truth and the world is a better place for LGBTQ people because of her bravery. 

“I’m glad I did it, but it was very, very difficult,” she said. “But if coming out helped one person, it was worth it.”

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