Trans cyclist Emily Bridges threatens court challenge over UCI ban
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/trans-cyclist-emily-bridges-threatens-court-challenge-over-uci-ban/ar-BB1iFWND?ocid=windirect&cvid=5532f064423b46e899237f287d16be2a&ei=32
Story by Karleigh Webb (21 Feb 2024)
British cyclist Emily Bridges has been a prominent face of the discussion, and arguments, surrounding transgender participation in competitive sports.
In a television interview with Britain's ITV News Tuesday, she let it be known that she is prepared to fight bans on trans women in sports competing as women in court on human rights grounds.
"What is normalized is the exclusion of trans people from public life. It has been a gateway for all of that to come about.
"There has been a lot of political pressure to ban us from sport. It reinforces the belief that trans women aren't women and that they are a threat."
In 2023, British Cycling and the UCI enacted policies that would keep Bridges and other trans women in the sport, such as American cyclist Austin Killips, out of elite women's cycling.
In July, the UCI initiated a total competition ban on trans women, prompting Bridges to announce her own retirement from sport.
"It normalizes violence against trans people. At the end of the day, that's the impact," said Bridges of both the comments and the tenor against trans athletes. "It's a scary time to be trans right now.
"You leave the house and you are thinking, are you going to come home?"