THE FIRST transgender person to work in the Premier League is the latest to attack Jeremy Clarkson’s comments on a spiky issue.

Football photographer Sophie Cook has called for the former Top Gear presenter to apologise after comparing transgender people to ladyboys in Bangkok.

In his Sunday Times column, Clarkson also said parents should not indulge notions of transgender brought to them by their children, but photographer Cook has labelled the 55-year-old a bigot.

Sophie, from Hove, said: “He’s already displayed every other form of bigotry so an attack on transgender people was long overdue.

“If I had been able to come out to my parents at the age of seven when I knew that I was transgender I would have avoided a lifetime of pain and self-harming which included my first suicide attempt at the age of 12.

“Funnily enough, although my children have a transgender parent they aren’t being led astray or influenced by my gender identity, in fact my 15 year old son is obsessed with cars and Top Gear.

“I recently took him to the O2 to see the Clarkson, Hammond and May Live show, a treat for him and an evening being subjected to Clarkson’s endless childish swearing and bigotry for me.”

When she was faced with a team of Premier League footballers for the final time last season, the twice married father-of-three was known by all as Steve.

The 49-year-old feared a backlash starting a new football season this year as Sophie.

But she said she has been totally accepted by players and fans as the first transgender woman to work for a Premier League club at Bournemouth after decades of feeling trapped in the wrong body.

She added: “Gender dysphoria is not something that we choose, it is an intrinsic part of our very souls and to deny it led me to a lifetime battling self-harm and suicidal feelings.

“The teenage years are hard for everyone, even more so if you suffer from gender dysphoria, and with understanding and support hopefully the days of young people being driven to suicide over these feelings are a thing of the past.

“Unfortunately Clarkson is not alone, there will always be bigots, and they will always feel justified in proclaiming their views as gospel wherever they can.”