An elite transgender cyclist says she got violent threats online after Boris Johnson commented on trans athletes
- Boris Johnson said in April that "biological men should not be competing in female sporting events."
- Transgender cyclist Emily Bridges says she has suffered threats of violence since the comments.
Cyclist Emily Bridges has said she has suffered violent threats against her online since the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a series of comments on transgender athletes competing in elite sport.
Johnson said in April that "biological men should not be competing in female sporting events."
He also said that women should have spaces in hospitals, prisons, and changing rooms which are "dedicated to women."
His comments came after Bridges, who came out as transgender in 2020 and began hormone therapy last year, was declared ineligible to race at the British National Omnium Championships.
"It's really strange to see probably the most famous man in Britain talking about you and having an opinion on something that he doesn't know anything about," Bridges, 21, told ITV News on Tuesday.
"The response after that was as expected, I had threats of physical violence made against me by complete strangers online.
"People are entitled to hold an opinion about it, but there's a way to go about voicing that opinion. Threatening to kneecap me is not that way.
"I'm scared a lot of the time about being who I am in public. Is someone going to recognize 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."
Prior to the British National Omnium Championships, Bridges had been allowed to compete in women's events by British Cycling, the national governing body for cycling in Britain, after demonstrating that her testosterone levels had been reduced to the required limits.
However just before the March event — at which she would have raced against five-time Olympic gold medalist Laura Kenny and a number of other Olympians — cycling's international governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), stepped in to stop her from taking part because it has not yet deemed her eligible to race in international competitions.
Shortly afterwards, British Cycling then suspended its transgender participation policy pending a review, a decision which effectively excluded Bridges from all women's racing.
"I think there was a lot of public pressure to pull the policy and I think that's why it was pulled," she told ITV News, adding that she had not heard from the governing body since.
"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," she said.
"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."
When contacted by Insider, British Cycling pointed to a statement given to ITV in which it apologized for the uncertainty caused by the suspension of its policy.
"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," it said.
"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."