Saturday, August 21, 2021

Billie Jean King Reveals She’s Gotten Married in Private after Hesitating for Years

LGBTQ NATION: "Years from now, I never want anyone to question how much I was committed to you," King said about her life-long partner Ilana Kloss, she reveals in her upcoming memoir.

Ilana Kloss (left) and Billie Jean King (right) at the "Battle of the Sexes" Premiere at the Village Theater on September 16, 2017 in Westwood, CA | Photo: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock

Although she helped to advance LGBTQ rights for decades and fought for marriage equality for years, Billie Jean King resisted marriage herself. She turned down an offer from Elton John to sing at the wedding. She didn’t do it after John McEnroe’s pushed her to do it in Las Vegas.

But King is now revealing that eventually, she did in fact decide to get married. In fact, she and her partner of 42 years, Ilana Kloss, did it about three years ago. No one knew about it — other than the former mayor of New York that officiated it, his wife, an “aide” that witnessed it, and the city employee who issued their license.

King tied the knot with Kloss on October 18, 2018, but she’s only revealing it publicly now in her memoir, All-In, and with an interview in People Magazine. Family and friends only found out when they received advanced copies of All-In, which goes on sale on August 17. » | Juwan J. Holmes | Sunday, August 15, 2021