NYSUT celebrates Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Questioning/Queer+ History Month, Oct. 1-31, with a new poster honoring American former world No. 1 tennis player Billie Jean King.
King won 12 Grand Slams in singles, 16 Grand Slams in women’s doubles, 11 Grand Slams in mixed doubles and was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. King is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987, the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1990 and in 2006 the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
A long-time advocate of gender equality and social justice, King founded the Women’s Tennis Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation. King received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 in recognition of her work advocating for the rights of women and of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities; in 2013, she was among the fi rst class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame. King married Ilana Kloss, her former doubles partner, in 2018.
The NYSUT poster is available for download; limited quantities are free for NYSUT members and leaders at the statewide union’s online publications ordering catalog, nysut.org/publications.
