Michelle Obama, at US Open, warns women’s progress ‘can be taken away’

Michelle Obama on Monday celebrated the anniversary of the U.S. Open becoming the first Grand Slam tennis tournament to pay equal prize money to women — but with a warning, saying the country has “seen how quickly progress like this can be taken away.”

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to join you in celebrating 50 years of equal prize money at the U.S. Open and to honor the woman who helped make it all possible, my friend, Billie Jean King,” Obama said during a speech at the annual championship in New York.

King, who was looking on during Obama’s remarks, won the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs after pushing for equal prize money for men and women in professional tennis.

“Men were paid as much as eight times more than women,” Obama recalled of the 1970s landscape for athletes. “And then there were folks like Bobby Riggs out there making ridiculous statements like, ‘Women belong in the bedroom and kitchen, in that order.’ Those were his exact words, believe it or not.”

“So, Billie Jean had a choice: She could put her head down, keep winning tournament after tournament and just accept whatever check she was given. Or she could dig deep and break serve,” the former first lady told the crowd.

“Even today, there are far too many tournaments out there that still need to give equal pay to women,” added Obama, 59.

The issue, she said, is “far bigger than a champion’s paycheck.”

“This is about how women are seen and valued in this world. Sadly, we have seen how quickly progress like this can be taken away if we are not mindful and vigilant, if we do not keep remembering, and advocating, and organizing, and speaking out — and yes — voting,” said Obama, who launched her voter registration and engagement organization, When We All Vote, in 2018.

The 79-year-old King, Obama said, “teaches us that when things lie in the balance, we all have a choice to make: We can either wait around and accept what we’re given, we can sit silently and hope that someone else fights our battles or we can make our own stand.”

“We can use whatever platforms we have to speak out and fight to protect the progress we’ve made,” she said, “and level the playing field for all of our daughters and their daughters.”