UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that he does not think biological males should compete in women’s sports. His remarks come after a biological male cyclist in Derbyshire, England tried to compete in a women’s race over the weekend and was prohibited from doing so, which Townhall covered.
"I don't think that biological males should be competing in female sporting events. And maybe that's a controversial thing ... but it just seems to me to be sensible," Johnson said during a visit to a hospital on Wednesday.
"And I also happen to think that women should have spaces, whether it's in hospitals or prisons or changing rooms or wherever, which are dedicated to women. That's as far as my thinking has developed on this issue. If that puts me in conflict with some others, then we have got to work it all out," Johnson added.
"That doesn't mean that I'm not immensely sympathetic to people who want to change gender, to transition. It's vital that we give people the maximum possible love and support in making those decisions,” the prime minister concluded. "But these are complex issues and I don't think they can be solved with one swift, easy piece of legislation. It takes a lot of thought to get this right.”
Over the weekend, biological male cyclist “Emily” Bridges was barred from competing in the women’s British National Omnium Championship. Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing body of the sport, told British Cycling that Bridges was not eligible to participate.
Reportedly, discussions were taking place that other participants would take action against Bridges inclusion in the race. This would have been Bridges’ first race competing against women.
Bridges issued a statement after being excluded from the race, which Townhall reported.
“I have provided both British Cycling and the UCI with medical evidence that I meet the eligibility criteria for transgender female cyclists, including that my testosterone limit has been far below the limit prescribed by the regulations for the last 12 months,” Bridges wrote in the statement.
"I am an athlete, and I just want to race competitively again," the statement continued. "No one should have to choose between being who they are, and participating in the sport that they love.”
The issue of biological male athletes competing against women has been at the forefront after Will “Lia” Thomas, a swimmer for University of Pennsylvania, competed against women this season and won an NCAA championships race, as Rebecca covered. Since then, several states, including Oklahoma, Iowa, and Arizona have created legislation banning biological males from competing in women’s sports.
In addition, the legislative action committee Concerned Women for America filed a formal Civil Rights Complaint under Title IX with the U.S. Department of Education against University of Pennsylvania for refusing to protect female student-athletes’ rights under federal law.
“Thomas is anatomically and biologically a male with physical capacities that are different from anatomically and biologically female athletes, which extends an unfair advantage and strips female student-athletes of opportunities afforded to them by law,” a press release detailing the lawsuit stated. “The complaint also cites reports that Thomas’ own teammates have complained about UPenn allowing a hostile environment to fester in its locker room which has put them in apprehension.”
Matt covered earlier this year how members of the UPenn women’s swim team felt uncomfortable sharing the locker room with Thomas. An anonymous female swimmer told Daily Mail that Thomas “still has male body parts and is still attracted to women.”
This week, a father of one of Thomas’ female teammates said in an interview with The Washington Examiner on the condition of anonymity that “there was definitely a breach of trust and a failure on the part of Penn to protect her [his daughter.]”
“In the fall of 2019, when Lia first came out, the girls were told she would have her own separate space somewhere,” the father said regarding Thomas sharing the locker room with female swimmers. “For some reason, that obviously changed. I’m not sure why it changed. Was it money? Was it legal threats?”
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