Billie Jean King speaks on Title IX at Washington University in St Louis

From Student Life, an independent student newspaper at Washington University in St Louis, a report on a talk by Gay Games Ambassador Billie Jean King:

“What I really wanted to do more than anything else was to beat Bobby Riggs, because I wanted to start, at least, to change the hearts and minds of the people to match Title IX,” King said, “and that is to have equality of federal funds going to both boys and girls.”

Title IX, a law that was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1972 that gave bans gender discrimination in high school and collegiate athletics, was a key point of King’s discussion, especially after recent news that several Division I schools have “played around” with their rosters to circumvent the regulations.

“Title IX was passed June 23, 1972, and I played Bobby in September ’73, so I knew it was about social change,” King said. “It was at the height of the women’s movement in this country.

“Title IX was one of the reasons I started the [Women’s Sports] Foundation,” she added. “It was to change attitudes. Attitudes have definitely changed.”

Read in full HERE.