Also, BJK is now trying to take away the parity/equal opportunity in scholastic sports, PE and academic programs that Title IX gave to girls and women attending educational institutions in the US that receive federal funding.

Born in 1943, BJK's athletic training and accomplishments were extra-curricular, occurring outside the context of school. She didn't need Title IX coz for the most part tennis is an individual sport whose players in the US have typically come up via clubs, associations and municipal programs rather than through the US publicly-funded school system. Though her family of origin was working class, BJK's athletic ambitions were supported and her tennis talents were nurtured her entire life from early childhood by her parents, her coaches, her various communities and a wide variety of established tennis associations and sporting bodies, and by the man she married in her early 20s.

Most girls and women weren't as lucky as King. For a huge number of girls and women who did not have family or community support for their athletic ambitions, and who desired to play sports other than tennis, Title IX made all the difference.

Also, the scholastic sports opportunities that Title IX opened up were/are not just about sex equality. Title IX was/is about racial and economic fair play, too. Many of the girls and women whose lives have been the most dramatically improved due to the sports programs that Title IX ushered in are black and other racial minorities from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. A good number came from troubled and "broken" homes as well.

BJK crusaded for women who play professional tennis to receive pay on par with men, and she helped found the professional Women's Tennis Association. And she deserves credit for that and for all her other accomplishments. But she did zilch for the cause of female equality within the US publicly funded educational system - which is what Title IX is all about. And she was too old to be affected by Title IX anyways, as it became law when she was nearly 30, and she retired from tennis when Title IX was still in its implementation period.

Now in her late 70s, BJK is seeking to reverse the landmark legislation that has given millions of girls and women less lucky than she their one and only chance to play school-related sports and to use school-related sports as a stepping stone to higher education and a far better shot at life opportunities than they otherwise would have had.

I graduated from HS the year Title IX was passed. As I attended college during the implementation period, there still was not parity for female students in athletics or academics - but Title IX is what gave us young women the teeth to demand that educational institutions start working towards providing fair play for female students in the field houses, on the playing fields and in the classroom. Also, in the course of my life I have had the privilege of knowing, working with and having my own views influenced by a number of women younger than I who would not have had a chance to go to college/uni (and then on to law, medical and other graduate schools) were it not for the athletic scholarships and opportunities made possible by Title IX.