Emily Bridges, the transgender cyclist whose controversial participation in female events prompted British Cycling to review and update its transgender and non-binary participation policies, has confirmed that she will continue to challenge the governing body’s decision – despite conceding that “elite sport is over for me”.
In a wide-ranging interview with ITV which aired last night, Bridges claimed that British Cycling’s creation of an ‘Open’ category for races and events to run alongside the pre-existing female classification has effectively amounted to a ban for transgender women, as well as constituting a “violation” of her human rights.
She also criticised the recent comments made by Rishi Sunak during Prime Minister’s Questions, which attacked Labour leader Keir Starmer’s “definition of a woman” and which were made while the mother of murdered trans teen Brianna Ghey was attending parliament, with Bridges arguing that by “trying to win a political game” Sunak was “normalising violence against trans people”.
British Cycling updates transgender policy, introduces new “Open” category
In May 2023, over a year after it suspended its transgender policy with immediate effect in the wake of Bridges’ controversial exclusion from the women’s British Omnium Championships in April 2022 and following a nine-month review, British Cycling announced its decision to introduce a new ‘Open’ category for competitive events, consolidating the existing men’s grouping and running alongside the female category, which is restricted to those born biologically female.
British Cycling CEO John Dutton said at the time that the updated policy would “both safeguard the fairness of cycle sport competition, whilst ensuring all riders have opportunities to participate”.
However, Bridges – whose exclusion from the Omnium Championships catapulted her into the spotlight and made her one of the world’s most high-profile trans athletes – accused the governing body of “furthering a genocide” against transgender people, while her mother, Sandy Sullivan, later confirmed to road.cc that a legal challenge to the policy was being prepared.
Emily Bridges set to mount legal challenge against British Cycling’s transgender policy
And this week, while speaking to ITV, Bridges says she is prepared to take the case to the European Court for Human Rights – despite acknowledging that her own days of competing at an elite level are almost certainly over.
“It’s not something I allow myself to think about too much because that part of my life is gone now, and it’s not something I really want to do anymore,” she told ITV News.
“If we were allowed to compete, if I was allowed to compete, it would be a different conversation, but I can’t compete… I can’t do something I used to love.”
Agreeing with the interviewer that her human rights had been “violated” by British Cycling’s policy update, she continued: “I don’t care if I never compete again. It’s for other people who want to compete and it’s just about what’s right.”
Bridges also disagreed with British Cycling’s assertion that trans women are still free to compete in the new open category, insisting that a “ban is a ban”.
“You can say you can compete in the open category, but we’re women, we should be able to race in the women’s category,” she said.
British Cycling’s new ‘Open’ category “patently designed to make sure that transgender women will compete at a major disadvantage”, says “perplexed” transgender cyclist
Bridges added that she would not feel safe racing alongside men and that she was uncomfortable with the thought of trans women being “forced” to out themselves in order to compete in the open category.
“Obviously I have a past in cycling, I have previous results and people know me,” she said.
“But for another trans woman who hasn’t competed in the past, she’s trans but is seen by the world as a cis woman, how is it fair to ask her to out herself and compete in the open category? That’s not fair and it’s not safe either.”
The British cyclist, who has participated in research at Loughborough University to assess the fairness of current trans participation policies, also disputes the peer-reviewed studies cited by British Cycling which claim that trans women who have suppressed testosterone retain a competitive advantage compared to cis women after puberty.
“How many of those studies are done on athletes?” she asked. “I have been part of a study, and the data will be coming out soon, and opponents of my inclusion, have been trying to discredit all of the data.”
In a statement, British Cycling said: “Our revised policies have been designed to safeguard the fairness of cycle-sport competition, while continuing to ensure that all riders have access to welcoming and inclusive opportunities to participate.”
“We remain fully committed to listening to our communities and working with other sporting bodies to monitor changes in the scientific and policy landscapes, and will be reviewing our policies annually or more frequently if required.”
Emily Bridges says Boris Johnson’s comments on transgender athletes led to threats of physical violence against her
Meanwhile, beyond the world of cycling and sport, Bridges also took aim at Rishi Sunak, after the prime minister was roundly criticised for a jibe directed at Keir Starmer during PMQs, which called into question the opposition leader’s stance on the “definition of a woman”. Sunak refused to apologise for the remarks, which were made while murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey’s mother was attending parliament and just a week after two teenagers were sentenced for killing her.
“It normalises violence against trans people,” Bridges said of Sunak’s PMQs remark. “At the end of the day, that is the impact. In court the judge presiding over the trial of Brianna’s murderers has said that transphobia was a factor, that transphobia is directly linked to the normalisation of these comments and, and the media pushing, pushing these debates and everything.
“And it’s just like, people are getting killed – we are still getting killed and it’s an incredibly scary time to be trans at the moment. If you leave the house and you’re thinking, ‘I’m not going to come home, because someone doesn’t like who I am’, and that’s a very real conversation that we’re having.
“It’s not safe anymore, but it’s never been particularly safe, but it has gotten worse. [Sunak] is not thinking about it at all. He’s just trying to win a political game. There’s no thought at all.”
