Liam Broady speaks out on LGBTQ, women's rights

Wild card Liam Broady, ranked No. 173 in the world, is one of the U.K.'s hopes at Wimbledon, and he's got something to say.

Broady shares at length about his views in a new piece for The Guardian, one of the British tabloids that keeps a classically droll eye on the Championships playing out at the All England Club.

The 24-year-old's statements about equal pay for female athletes, LGBTQ rights and gun control all strike a chord in a sport in which players often shrug off talking about complicated, even volatile political topics.

Among Broady's intriguing comments to the Guardian, he addresses the idea of ATP and WTA players banding together to form a players' union: "Male and female players together have a lot more power than separate – over tournaments, over schedule, everything, really. It seems pretty obvious to me [that they should unite on this]."

Part of Broady's stance on equal pay stems from his relationship with and observing of how his 28-year-old sister, Naomi Broady, plays out her life, currently as the No. 138–ranked player on the WTA Tour.

During the Australian Open Broady opened up on Twitter about LGBTQ rights, opining on tennis legend–turned-pastor Margaret Court's views on same-sex marriage and the like.

It's true thatCourt commonly get thumped via Twitter and op-ed pages when the Melbourne-based Happy Slam gets going. Even so, Broady's served as a stark reminder that still not a grand lot of pros, male or female, speak out on such issues on a regular basis.

Broady, who has jumped about 200 places in the ATP World Tour rankings in the past year, faced off against No. 13 seed Milos Raonic in Wimbledon's first round, sliding out in straight sets. Naomi Broady squares off on Tuesday against Garbine Muguruza, the No. 3 seed and defending ladies' singles champion.

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