The British No 4 became the latest athlete to support Stonewall's Rainbow Laces campaign by wearing them during his Australian Open first-round defeat to Nick Kyrgios in Melbourne on Tuesday; the campaign is designed to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport
Wednesday 19 January 2022 04:45, UK
Liam Broady says he doesn't think men's tennis has a specific "culture" that is preventing players from coming out as gay or bisexual, after wearing Rainbow Laces at the Australian Open to "send support" to the LGBTQ+ community.
Broady, Britain's No 4 ranked men's player, became the latest athlete to support Stonewall's Rainbow Laces campaign by wearing them during his first-round defeat to Nick Kyrgios in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The initiative, which is designed to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport, has been supported by Sky Sports, along with the likes of English football's Premier League and many athletes in other sports.
During his post-match press conference, Broady explained that the absence of out gay or bi players on the men's professional tour makes it more important for those like himself to show support to the LGBTQ+ community.
"I just kind of wanted to send the support," Broady said, when asked about wearing the laces.
"I know obviously within men's tennis - is it a taboo? I don't think it's really a taboo, but I've seen questions before about why there aren't any openly gay men on the tour, and I just wanted to kind of voice my support in that general area.
"And the LGBTQ community, I mean, a lot of those guys have given me a lot of support throughout my career and have been there since day one, so I kind of wanted to give a thank you in my own sort of way."
Asked if he thought there was a culture on the tour preventing players from coming out, Broady said: "I don't think so. I guess the society we live in there's a culture like that, right? Especially in sport."
Broady used the example of Australian footballer Josh Cavallo, who came out in October last year, as evidence that difficulties for LGBTQ+ people in sport are not limited to men's tennis.
"I saw that the first openly gay footballer just came out in Australia. And it's difficult, right? I mean it's a big thing to do and at the end of the day in the 21st century, it's pretty rubbish that people don't feel like they can be openly gay. It's quite sad, really.
"If there are people in the locker rooms and you kind of... you don't want to force them to come out, you know, especially if they don't want to. It's their choice. So you've just got to try to support in the way you can and just let them know everything's OK."
Sky Sports is a member of TeamPride which supports Stonewall's Rainbow Laces campaign.
