Wimbledon to mark 40 years since Billie Jean King sexism victory
Equal opportunity laws in the US were still two years away when Billie Jean King barricaded 63 of her colleagues in a room at the Gloucester Hotel in London and emerged triumphantly waving legal papers that led to the formation of the Women's Tennis Association 40 years ago.
The WTA has announced plans for more than 20 of the 23 women who have since been ranked number one to gather at a glitzy event on the middle weekend of Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, to commemorate what became not only a seminal sporting moment but a key staging post in the battle for equality.
"What started as a few women and a dollar has grown to thousands, living the dream – our dream. We were athletes who wanted to compete – and along the way we made history, determined to win, not just for ourselves, but for women everywhere," says King in a WTA campaign to mark the milestone.
Against a febrile backdrop in the summer of 1973 King, who won the fifth of her six Wimbledon singles titles that year, called a meeting of her fellow players amid widespread and intense frustration at sexism and inequality in the sport.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jun/20/wimbledon-40-years-billie-jean-king-sexism
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