.Sep 17, 2024, 09:18 PM ETWASHINGTON-- Billie Jean Master will definitely come to be the initial private women's sportsmen to become awarded the Legislative Gold Medal.Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and also Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey revealed Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had actually passed your house of Panels and also would certainly be actually sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.The bill to recognize King, the tennis Hallway of Famer and also protestor, had actually actually passed with one voice in the Senate.Sherrill, a Democrat, mentioned in a declaration that King's "life time of advocacy and hard work changed the garden for girls as well as women on the courthouse, in the class, as well as the work environment." The costs was introduced in September 2023 on the 50th wedding anniversary of Master's triumph over Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes," still the most-watched tennis suit of all time. The medal, granted through Our lawmakers for prominent success as well as contributions to culture, has actually earlier been offered to professional athletes, featuring pitcher Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente and also golf players Port Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.King had presently been actually awarded the Presidential Medal of Liberty in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she possesses "defective obstacles, led unexplored pathways, as well as motivated countless folks to stand proudly with nerve as well as sentiment in the defend what is right.".