LEAP Sports Scotland led the Solidarity Cycle in Glasgow on Sunday.

A Scottish charity working for greater inclusion for LGBTI people in sport held a protest in Glasgow on Sunday demanding rights for trans people.

LEAP Sports Scotland and supporters gathered across the city on the final day of the cycling world championships. 

The protest ride coincided with the elite women’s road race, after the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) banned trans women from competing in female sporting events.

In a statement ahead of the championships across Scotland, UCI president David Lappartient said: "The UCI would like to reaffirm that cycling – as a competitive sport, leisure activity or means of transport – is open to everyone, including transgender people, whom we encourage like everyone else to take part in our sport. I would also like to reaffirm that the UCI fully respects and supports the right of individuals to choose the sex that corresponds to their gender identity, whatever sex they were assigned at birth. 

“However, it has a duty to guarantee, above all, equal opportunities for all competitors in cycling competitions. It is this imperative that led the UCI to conclude that, given the current state of scientific knowledge does not guarantee such equality of opportunity between transgender female athletes and cisgender female participants, it was not possible, as a precautionary measure, to authorise the former to race in the female categories."

This decision was heavily criticised by transgender individuals, and those who advocate for equal rights in sports for LGBTI individuals. 

LEAP Sports Scotland organised the Solidarity Cycle protest following the UCI’s recent decision to ban trans women from the women’s category, writing: “This policy change is disproportionate, discriminatory and lacking in evidence. 

“Cycling must be accessible to all and we invite you to join our Solidarity Cycle to show your support for trans people in cycling from grassroots to competition.”

A sign reading “Let Trans Women Win” has since gone viral from the protest, with winners of some medals at the UCI refusing to be seen on the podium as part of a silent protest against the decision. 

Dozens of protestors joined LEAP, who travelled from the West End’s Riverside Museum, before travelling to Queen’s Park, where speeches were given in support of transgender inclusion in sport.