Cody Rappaport/Six West MediaBillie Jean King is a tennis legend, having won 39 Grand Slam titles and spent six years ranked No. 1 in women’s pro tennis. But she doesn’t consider tennis to be her crowning achievement.
“I’m most proud of being a champion of equality,” she says. “Equality isn’t only about the money. It’s also about the message. It’s essential that all genders are treated as equals and that we all have the same amount of societal respect, access and power.”
Signed into law in June 1972, the 37-word provision known as Title IX prohibited discrimination based on sex under any “education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
“Title IX changed everyday life for women in the U.S.,” King says. “It created educational opportunities, access to employment, sports scholarships and activities that had previously been denied to women. It created a path to equality, the kind of equality I definitely didn’t have access to as a child.”
In the two-hour PBS special Groundbreakers (Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 8pm ET/PT), host King unites world-class female athletes from yesterday and today in one-on-one conversations to share their stories, their struggles and their individual paths to success.
King sits down with Team Mexico’s 2022 World Flag Football Games champion Diana Flores, former U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team captain Julie Foudy meets with Olympic gold medal gymnast Suni Lee, Olympic track legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee talks with four-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka, and basketball pioneer Nancy Lieberman chats with Olympic gold medal snowboarder Chloe Kim.
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