Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King urges people to ‘listen’ to trans athletes

Tennis legend and lesbian icon Billie Jean King has urged people to “listen” to the trans community, as more and more sporting bodies seek to exclude trans people from participation.

Former world number one King, who famously won the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match against Bobby Riggs in 1973, has along been been an advocate of gender equality in sports.

Speaking to The Telegraph ahead of Wimbledon, King weighed-in on the exclusion of trans people in sport, saying “the whole thing’s a nightmare”.

“I don’t think people have any idea of how hard it is for trans people. Just listen to their stories. Listen – not tell them,” King said.

“Everyone is unique. Make them feel included because you really don’t know.”

She continued: “With every person I meet, I try to start with a blank. Ask questions. If I weren’t doing this interview with you, I’d be bugging you with a lot of questions.”

King, who was married to Larry King for 22 years and came out as a lesbian when she was 51, has consistently spoken out for the rights of all members of the LGBTQ+ community both in sport and wider society.

In 2020, King was among more than 170 current and former athletes in women’s sports who signed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of trans girls and women playing sports.

Other prominent signings included World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe, WNBA trailblazer Candace Parker, Becky Sauerbrunn, Meghan Duggan, Layshia Clarendon and Katie Sowers.

“There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind,” King declared at the time. “I’m proud to support all transgender athletes who simply want the access and opportunity to compete in the sport they love.”

She added: “The global athletic community grows stronger when we welcome and champion all athletes – including LGBTQI+ athletes.”

In April 2023, King spoke out against Florida’s abhorrent ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation – which bars public schools from teaching about LGBTQ+ topics and gender identity – signed into law by Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

“I have no control over what the governor is doing,” King said. “He probably has gay kids in his family. He’ll say he doesn’t probably, but I bet he does. Most people have gay relatives, even if they don’t know it.”

“I’m about inclusion,” she continued. “I think you should have different people on the (school) board. 

“Shouldn’t just be the people like you, that look like you, think like you. I think it’s important to have people who think differently. That’s how you really win. 

“You get great ideas from so many different sources in life. It’s really important to be open I think to people.”

But just months later, a children’s biography about her entitled I am Billie Jean King was complained about by a parent whose child attended a school in Leon County, northern Florida because of one page referring to the tennis star realising her sexual orientation.

In the book, which is targeted at children aged between 5 and 9, one of the pages reads: “Around this time, I realised I was gay.

“Being gay means that if you’re a girl, you love and have romantic feelings for other girls – and if you’re a boy, you love and have romantic feelings for other boys.”