Emily Bridges received threats of violence after PM made comments about trans rights in sports

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Transgender cyclist Emily Bridges has said that she was subjected to a wave of violent threats after Boris Johnson remarked that ‘biological males shouldn’t compete in women’s sports’ in a blistering attack on the under-fire Prime Minister. 

The 21-year-old Welsh athlete made headlines in March when she was barred from competing against Olympic hero Dame Laura Kenny in the British National Omnium Championships at the 11th hour by world governing body UCI.

The controversy sparked an explosive debate outside the world of sport and prompted Mr Johnson to wade into the trans row by declaring that biological males should not be allowed to compete in women’s sporting events. The Tory leader also said that parents should have ‘involvement at the very least’ in decision made by children to alter their gender.

And Mr Johnson had said that women should have spaces in hospitals, prisons and changing rooms which were ‘dedicated to women’.

‘That’s as far as my thinking has developed on this issue. If that puts me in conflict with some others, then we have got to work it all out,’ he said. ‘That doesn’t mean that I’m not immensely sympathetic to people who want to change gender, to transition. It’s vital that we give people the maximum possible love and support in making those decisions.

‘But these are complex issues and I don’t think they can be solved with one swift, easy piece of legislation. It takes a lot of thought to get this right.’

During an interview with ITV News, Bridges excoriated the Prime Minister, claiming that his remarks sparked an avalanche of threats of physical violence including kneecapping and had made her ‘scared’ to go out in public in fear for her safety.

She added: ‘It’s really strange to see, probably the most famous man in Britain, talking about you and having an opinion on something he doesn’t know anything about. The response after that was as expected. I had threats of physical violence made against me, and by complete strangers online, and I’m scared a lot of the time about being who I am in public.

‘People are always going to have an opinion about it. They’re entitled to hold an opinion about it – but there’s a way to go about voicing that opinion and threatening to kneecap me is not that way.’

In the wide-ranging interview on the sporting row:

Bridges said that the avalanche of online abuse she had received had made her ‘scared’ to go out in public;She asked for ’empathy’ from those who think trans women should be barred from competing in women’s sports;The trans cyclist said the ‘patriarchal structures that govern cycling and society in general’ had ‘pushed me into the closet, that I couldn’t be myself’;Bridges also disputed the body of science which suggests that trans women have a competitive advantage over women having been through male puberty;And she claimed that British Cycling pulled its trans inclusion policy due to public pressure. 

‘I’m scared a lot of the time about being who I am in public. Is someone going to recognise me? They were real concerns and it was a real fear that I had after the comments were made, and it was scary. I was scared.’

British Cycling has recently suspended its trans policy, blocking athletes from switching their racing licence from male to female until they had reviewed their rules.

Bridges, who was on British Cycling’s senior academy in 2019 and came out as a transgender woman in October 2020, claimed the organisation pulled its policy due to public pressure. She told the broadcaster: ‘I think there’s a lot of public pressure to pull the policy and I think that’s why it was it was pulled.

‘I’ve heard nothing from them. They said that they’d be in touch about the procedure, about how they were going to make the new policy. But I haven’t heard anything. So, either they’re not doing anything or they’re not doing what they said in their email to me and including me in making a policy.’

Bridges also asked those who think trans women should be barred from competing in women’s sports for ’empathy’, saying that the ‘patriarchal structures that govern cycling and society in general’ had ‘pushed me into the closet, that I couldn’t be myself’.

‘I empathise with where you’re coming from. I empathise with why you feel potentially threatened by my inclusion; you might feel like the patriarchal structures that govern cycling and society in general, it’s another thing that’s being pushed on you and it’s another thing you’ve got to fight against,’ she said.

‘But those same structures those same attitudes are the same things that pushed me down, pushed me into the closet, that I couldn’t be myself. So, I would ask if you can empathise with me, because I can empathise with you?

‘I don’t know if this will change anybody’s mind but that’s the message I give you.’

During the subsequent debate, British Cycling said it was suspending its transgender policy pending a review ‘to find a better answer’. 

Some of those most vocal against Bridges’ potential inclusion in the March event pointed to the fact she had competed in the men’s points race of the British Universities’ Championships a month earlier. 

The cyclist accepts in hindsight it was maybe the wrong decision but insisted it was made to ensure she remained competitive, especially ahead of appearing at the championships in Derby, which initial British Cycling rules on transgender participation ensured she could enter. 

‘It probably wasn’t the right thing to do,’ Bridges admitted. 

‘I wanted to do it because I wanted to keep my skills sharp. Immediately after I came off the track, I was like “I kind of wish I hadn’t done that” because I knew what was coming.’ 

Bridges was cleared to compete by British Cycling after reducing her testosterone to the required levels but she was then blocked by the UCI, whose guidelines allow them six weeks to convene an expert panel to review a case.

UCI president David Lappartient admitted in an interview that their current rules on testosterone were ‘probably not enough’, but it remains to be seen whether Bridges will eventually be deemed eligible to race after the six-week deadline.

In the letter addressed to Lappartient and other UCI chiefs, the group of women – predominantly made up of former elite female cyclists including Sara Symington, one of British Cycling’s most senior figures – expressed their ‘deep regret’ about the ‘crisis situation’.

Symington was a cyclist for Great Britain at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and was performance director at England Netball and UK Athletics before returning to British Cycling in January as head of their Olympic and Paralympic programmes.

Other British signatories of the letter include Yvonne McGregor, who won a track cycling bronze at Sydney 2000, and Mandy Bishop, the 1982 world road race champion.

They wrote: ‘Recently female athletes in the UK have shown you that they were willing to boycott their own National Championships to get the UCI and British Cycling to hear their concerns about fairness in sport.

‘That is how seriously female athletes are taking this issue and we greatly respect what our sisters were willing to sacrifice to have their voices heard. We are saddened that this should ever have been necessary.

‘We believe that rule 13.5.015 does not guarantee female athletes ‘fair and meaningful’ competition as the UCI has promised.

‘We believe that the rule is discriminatory in that it advantages only biological male athletes by providing them greater opportunity to compete and enjoy the rewards of sport at its highest level.

‘We ask that unless the UCI can provide robust scientific evidence that the rule guarantees fairness for female athletes, that the UCI rescind rule 13.5.015 effective immediately and implement eligibility criteria for the female category that is based on female biological characteristics.’

Asked about the body of science which suggests that trans women have a competitive advantage over women because they have been through male puberty, Bridges told ITV News: ‘All of the research that’s been done previously has not been done on athletes, it’s been done on sedentary individuals. Many of them are flawed – they’re using grip strength and lean body mass, sometimes on individuals who haven’t completed 12 months of hormone therapy, so they’re not relevant.

‘It’s laughable, there’s a number of papers that they cite and reviews that they cite and and a lot of the data that’s in those papers just isn’t relevant – especially to cycling.’

Bridges added: ‘I knew that my main goal for the season, the Commonwealth Games, was then out of the question because I couldn’t race this event, and it was unlikely I was going to be able to race any international events during the Welsh Cycling’s set timeframe for the selection. 

‘So the Commonwealth Games were gone. I feel a real pride about being Welsh and I wanted to represent my country.’ 

Bridges also said one of her main goals was to make sport inclusive for ‘everybody’.

She said:’ I don’t know if I see myself as a role model (for trans women) but I would like to think what I’m doing is helping other people and making things easier for the people who come after me. 

‘That’s the goal to make people feel more comfortable in who they are and hopefully make cycling and sport a more welcome place for everyone – not just trans people or LGBT – for everyone.

‘Sport, from what I’ve seen of it, is not an inclusive space.’

Responding to Bridges’ comments, a British Cycling spokesperson said: ‘We are determined to ensure that cycling is a welcoming and inclusive place for all, and we are working hard to find a better answer to the challenge of balancing inclusion and fairness in competition which is shared by many other sports. 

‘In doing this we have called on a coalition of organisations and voices, both within and outside of sport, to come together so that we can provide all athletes with the clarity and certainty they deserve.

‘We believe that it is important that there is consistency between our Transgender and Non-binary Participation Policy and the policies and guidance held by other governing bodies and key stakeholders.  

‘For this reason, we are currently undertaking a full and thorough review of our policy and will share further details on the framework for this in the coming weeks.

‘We sincerely apologise for the uncertainty caused by the suspension of our policy, particularly for the transgender and non-binary communities and women in our sport, and we will be actively engaging with these communities as part of our policy review.’