Billy jeang King the Tennis Hall of Famer and outspoken activist for women's equal rights in sports could become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional gold medal reps Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mickey Cheryl of New Jersey say they have enough votes in the house to Grant her the distinguished award the only step left is to get the bill to the floor for a vote the companion bill in the Senate passed unanimously Billy Jean is a barrier breaker and hopefully she's going to break another one said Fitzpatrick a republican hopefully this will be the first of many lawmakers introduced the bill in September 2023 on the 50th anniversary of King's victory over Bobby rigs in the battle of the sexes still the most watched tennis match of all time that same year king led the successful push for the US Open to award equal prize money to its men's and women's Champions and the WTA tour was created the gold medal is awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente and golfers Jack Nicholas Bayern Nelson and Arnold Palmer are among the recipiant we need her advocacy representative Cheryl a Democrat said like when Billy Jan King shows up on the hill our speaker Amar Pelosi shows up for her because of that relation ship and how influential she's been to so many women and has made such an impact for so many of us