In 1981 tennis great Billie Jean King publicly confirmed she had been in a same-sex relationship.
King was a World Number 1 tennis player who won 39 Grand Slam titles during her playing career. In 1973 at the age of 29 she famously won the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match against 55-year-old Bobby Riggs.
She was born Billie Jean Moffitt, but took her husband’s name when she wed in 1964. A few years into their marriage she realised that she was attracted to women.
In 1971 she began an affair with her secretary Marilyn Bennett. Bennett had been living rent-free in the couple’s Malibu house but when she was asked to move out of the property, she threatened to expose the affair with letters that King had written and other documents she had held onto.
After she attempted suicide by jumping off the balcony of the Malibu property, a move that left her a paraplegic, Bennett sued King for palimony. The court care made the tennis champion’s sexuality public at a time when there was still huge discrimination.
King acknowledged the relationship, making her the first high profile tennis player to publicly come out. At the time King felt she could not acknowledge the full extent of the relationship and called it a “fling” and a “mistake” in an interview.
Sponsors quickly dropped King after the news about her sex life became public, and she lost an estimated $2million in sponsorship deals. She remained married to her husband Larry (not to be confused with the TV interviewer) until 1987 when she fell in love with her doubles partner Ilana Kloss.
Kloss and King remained a couple and were married in 2018.
Artist Tom of Finland was born in 1920
Touko Laaksonen is born in Kaarina, a small town in Southwestern Finalnd. He would find fame under the name Tom of Finland.
During his long career he produced over 3,5000 drawings, his signature style was depicting men in a homoerotic style, usually wearing little clothing.
He died in 1991 the result of an emphysema-induced stroke. The 2017 film Tom of Finland documents his life.
During the fight for marriage equality it was suggested Mother’s Day would be ending
In 2016 the debate over marriage equality was raging. On this day The Marriage Forum, a conservative group opposed to same-sex unions claimed that in the future Mother’s Day might not be celebrated.
“Once Genderless Marriage is enshrined in law, it’s official – Mothers no longer matter. Their unique contribution to the family unit is no longer upheld as the ideal and Mother’s Day is an affront to Genderless Families.” the group claimed.
The group argued that future Monther’s Days would be cancelled in Labor won the 2016 election, because they were opposed to promoting events that only celebrated one gender.
