The American tennis icon and LGBTQ+ activist Billie Jean King, now 82, has finally completed her university degree—more than six decades after she first began her studies. On Monday, King received her Bachelor’s degree in history from California State University, Los Angeles.
She had enrolled at the university in the early 1960s, but she left in 1964 to devote herself fully to her professional tennis career. That decision marked the start of an extraordinary journey in which she amassed 39 Grand Slam titles and became a central figure in the fight for equality in sport. Last year, she returned to finish her studies.
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During the ceremony, which drew about 6,000 graduates, the “College Girl” spoke about her roots in a working-class family, her experiences with discrimination, and her lifelong commitment to equality and inclusion. She emphasized that education and social progress are closely linked in her view.
Best Tennis Player of All Time
Billie Jean King, born in 1943 in California, is widely regarded by many experts as the greatest tennis player of all time. She collected 39 Grand Slam titles (Steffi Graf has 23). In 1981 she publicly came out as a lesbian—an event that occurred in the same year as Martina Navratilova. The coming out was not voluntary; her former partner Marilyn Barnett had disclosed the relationship during a lawsuit over alimony payments. In the aftermath, King confirmed her sexual orientation. Unlike today’s coming-outs, she was treated as an outcast: within 24 hours she effectively lost almost all of her sponsors.
Following her coming out, King devoted herself to advancing LGBTQ rights. Even before that, she had fought for equal pay for female tennis players. Her celebrated exhibition match against Bobby Riggs, known as the Battle of the Sexes, later became the subject of a film. In the movie, King is portrayed by Hollywood star Emma Stone.
In 2018, King secretly married her longtime partner, the former South African tennis player Ilana Kloss. It was only three years later that she publicly announced the marriage. The couple splits their time between New York and Chicago.
