Gay Celebrities: Billie Jean King
Former professional tennis champion Billie Jean King won the famous Battle of the Sexes against men’s champion Bobby Riggs in 1973. Her sexual orientation was thrust into view in May 1981 during an ugly legal hearing between King and her longtime partner. “It was very hard on me because I was outed,” King later said in 2007. “And I think you have to do it in your own time.” (credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)