Cyclist Emily Bridges has accused the UCI of using trans women as targets in a "culture war" after she was barred from competing in an elite women's race.
Bridges, 21, qualified to participate in the National Omnium Championships that were held in the Derby Arena last month. However, just days beforehand, the UCI told British Cycling that her entry could only be permitted once her eligibility to race in international competitions was confirmed.
The authority cited the fact that international ranking points are allocated at national championship events. Therefore, it was argued that it was unfair of Bridges to deny others of points without being officially cleared to compete.
She had previously been deemed eligible to compete in women's events because of lowered levels of testosterone following hormone therapy. However, despite having met British Cycling's regulations, the organisation have now suspended their policy pending a review.
As a result, Peter Stanton withdrew his monetary sponsorship from the event, saying he would be "letting down" friends and colleagues in the transgender community if he did not take a stand. It threw the event into jeopardy before organisers secured late funding elsewhere.
And now Bridges herself has fired back at authorities: "We're the current punching bag populist movements like to go for. We are, at the moment, who the culture war is against," she told Diva Magazine.
"There needs to be more positive voices and more education. People are constructing opinions off not the whole story. The more studies that are done, the more concrete evidence there will be."
Bridges argued that the attitudes towards transgender people in society were being reflected in the measures imposed by sporting bodies: "Sport acts as a microcosm to the rest of society, so with the patriarchal structure that exists in the rest of society, that's intensified in sport," she said.
Despite many siding with Bridges following her ban, Sara Symington, the chief of GB Olympic cycling, was among a host of professionals to sign a letter supporting the ban of transgender athletes competing with women. The group warned female cyclists in the UK "were willing to boycott" races over the issue.
Bridges, who was in British Cycling's senior academy in 2019, came out as a transgender woman in October 2020. She began her hormone therapy last year as part of her gender dysphoria treatment.
While having the therapy, she continued to compete in men's races, and in September took part in the Welsh National Championship road race. In her final men's event earlier this year, Bridges won a men's points race at the British Universities Championships.
"I could have just not ridden [in men's events], which probably would have been somewhat better for my mental health and for affirming my identity," she added. "I don't know if it's the right decision or not, but that's what I did."
