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Billie Jean Moffit King can add another honor, and another breakthrough, to her long and unbelievable career. <\/span>King, who traveled to her first major tournament with money donated to her by her fellow Long Beachians, is the first female athlete to receive the nation’s highest honor for a civilian, the Medal of Freedom. <\/span><\/p>\n President Obama said at the ceremony, “We honor not simply her 12 Grand Slam titles, 101 doubles titles, and 67 singles titles\u2014pretty good, Billie Jean\u2014we honor what she calls “all the off-the-court stuff.” <\/span>What she did to broaden the reach of the game, to change how women athletes and women everywhere view themselves, and to give everyone\u2014regardless of gender or sexual orientation, including my two daughters, a chance to compete both on the court and in life.” King was recognized alongside such cultural pillars as Sidney Poitier, Stephen Hawking, Desmond Tutue, and Harvey Milk, who received the honor posthumously. <\/span>King told the AP that being honored alongside Milk meant a lot to her. <\/span>“I was so excited for the community,” she said. <\/span>“I think it’s the first time the LGBT community has been acknowledged. It’s another breakthrough.” <\/span>King and Milk were recognized by the administration, along with the other awardees, for being “agents of change.” Not bad for the same player who purchased an $8 racket with money she’d saved up from doing chores, deciding then, as an 11-year old, that her goal was to be the number one tennis player in the world. “When I was 7, I said, ‘Mom, I know I’m going to do something great with my life,”‘ King told the AP. “She said, ‘That’s all right, just get the dishes done.”‘ <\/span>