Cyclist Emily Bridges on trans media attention: ‘The general public don’t care about us’
Bridges said in an interview that hysteria around trans issues since the recent Supreme Court ruling is "manufactured"
By Gary Grimes
Trans cyclist Emily Bridges has spoken out about the recent Supreme Court ruling on the term ‘woman’.
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that, in the context of the Equality Act 2010, the term ‘woman’ refers only to ‘biological women’. The Court’s decision caused over 20,000 people to protest on the streets of London last weekend in defence of trans rights.
Speaking about the aftermath of the court’s ruling, Bridges told ITV News: “It increases levels of vulnerability. You go out of the house thinking ‘is this the day that someone is going to shout at me, attack me?'”
Britain’s best known trans athlete Emily Bridges tells ITV News Sports Editor @stevescott_itv that Supreme Court gender ruling has put a 'a target on the back' of trans women.https://t.co/vv4ikUxpqV pic.twitter.com/tJt9mMEdey
— ITV News (@itvnews) April 23, 2025
She went on to say: “I felt, like it has painted, like, more of a kind of target on our back since because it’s…..been wall to wall coverage across social media and across the news and, of course, the newspapers.”
The cyclist, who has multiple national medals in track cycling under her belt, made headlines in 2022 after she was excluded from cycling as a woman in the National Road Championships due to her testosterone levels.
Bridges told ITV News she feels the level of disdain for trans people has singificantly increased in recent years. “The public expression on both sides has increased in intensity and vitriol,” she said. “People are now feeling more comfortable to express hateful views. Not just trans people but about people of colour, immigrants, religious minorities and there’s been a massive rise in sexism.
“The general public don’t care about us, they care about being able to pay the rent or putting food on the table” – Emily Bridges
“The things that are being said now, wouldn’t have been dreamt of ten years ago,” Bridges went on to say. “No-one cared about us ten years ago. It’s manufactured, the general public don’t care about us, they care about being able to pay the rent or putting food on the table.”
In 2022, Bridges was the recipient of an Attitude Pride Award. She told us then that her advice to other young LGBTQ+ sportspeople would be: “You’re welcome in sport; you’re loved; there’s support for you out there; things will change.”
“It means a lot to me, to be recognised by the LGBTQ community and by such a big publication,” she admitted. “I’m honoured.”