Philippa York
‘Given the choice I would have done it at 16’
Amid everything else, there is a rather moving love story at the heart of York’s life. Having had a son called Edward from her previous marriage, she met Linda when Robert Millar was still one of the world’s best cyclists.
They had a daughter, Liddy, in 1995 and this family unit remains intact to this day.
“There are times when that almost fell apart due to outside influences,” she says. “I was really lucky. It’s rare. Lots of people who transition lose their family and friends. You can’t know how somebody is going to react to you.
It says a lot about my partner. I asked myself the same question. If I came back one day and she said to me that she wants to change to the other side, would I be happy? I eventually reached the conclusion that I would because I want to see her happy. OK, I would be shocked, like she was. I wouldn’t be saying, ‘OK that’s great, let’s go’ but I would deal with it. I realised that the love she’s had for me, I hold that same level of love for her.”
It was Liddy who encouraged her to take up a suggestion from the presenter Ned Boulting to commentate for ITV at last year’s Tour de France and so finally reveal Philippa. York has also remained in regular contact with Edward, who is now 29 and living in France.
“I never expected to reappear in a public role,” she says. “I didn’t want to put myself or those around me through the trauma. My daughter said it would be OK. She said, ‘Things have changed. It is no longer tolerance but acceptance that not everybody is the same’. She was right. There was some reluctance to lose that privacy but I have gained some personal freedom. So you know about me. Does it affect you? No. Does it register on your day-to-day life? No. They don’t have to be angry.”
The reaction from the cycling public to the re-emergence of an authentic hero has been overwhelming in its warmth. Now 59, York attended British Cycling’s awards dinner in February and was mobbed by well-wishers. News of her transition also commanded the entire front cover of L’equipe magazine in France.
“I never knew I was held in high esteem – I was so focused on what I wanted to achieve as a cyclist that I had no idea,” she says.
So what does York do now? Her insight and humour were evident in those television commentaries and she writes both for Rouleur magazine and Cycling News. “It’s OK if people say I’m a has-been, living off their history,” she says. “Everybody is living off their history in some way. Anyway, before being a has-been, I was.”
York still also enjoys riding a bike and, while she has one machine with mudguards and a wicker-basket for “going to town”, her knowledge of the gradients and length of climbs around her south-coast home is suspiciously accurate. “I still like that rush of speed – but that’s only downhill,” she says. “I can’t go fast on the flat or uphill any more.”
She has begun working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on projects that will improve understanding and support for trans people.
“Philippa’s story is remarkable and has a real power to educate and change attitudes,” says David Isaac, the EHRC chair. ‘It’s heartbreaking to hear of the guilt and shame she suffered but it is also heart-warming to see how positive the reaction was to her announcement.” According to Stonewall, 64 per cent of young trans people are bullied in schools, four out of five have self-harmed and two out of five have attempted to take their own life.
“I should use the public role I could have to educate people, let them ask questions and try to answer them honestly,” says York. “In early transition, when my presentation was not as good, I would receive abuse on the street. I would think about my personal safety. People would shout at you and the attitude would be, ‘What do you expect?’ You would also on the LGPA Tour due to their “female at birth” rule. She helped overturn that rule and was able to play on the European Tour from 2004. hear that from authority but there has been a big change in the last five years. People are now saying that is not all right. I don’t want my children to grow up in that other kind of world. It’s not about making my life better, it’s about making everybody’s lives better and the only way it will change is by education.”
And, as York embarks on this third phase of life, she is adamant that she would trade her success on the bike to have lived her entire adult life with the contentment that gender change has brought.
“Given the choice, I would have transitioned at 16 and not been a bike rider,” she says. “I still carry the issues but most days are fine whereas before, most days were crap and the occasional day was fine.
“What counts is not how famous or not famous you are. Or how normal or not normal you are but are you happy? I like being on the female side more than I ever liked being on the male side. Am I happy with where I am? Yes. Not perfectly because I don’t think perfection exists. But happy? Yes.” The first transgender player to play in a World Cup qualifier in 2011. US Samoan Saelua is part of the fa’afafine, which are considered to be a third gender.