Professional Trans Pool Player Loses Discrimination Case
Image: Harriet Haynes/Instagram
British transgender pool player Harriet Haynes has lost her discrimination case against the English Blackball Pool Federation, following her 2023 ban from its women’s competitions.
At the time, the EBPF said Haynes, a professional pool player, would be able to participate in the open category to ensure “equality and fairness for all”.
As reported by the BBC, Haynes argued that the exclusion of players who weren’t born biologically female was “direct discrimination”, as it was based on her gender reassignment, a protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act.
She also claimed the policy violated the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to respect for an individual’s private and family life.
The EBPF argued that players who were born male and went through male puberty had physical advances in cue sports, including the ability to generate higher break speed, greater hand span to bridge over balls and a longer reach. Haynes’ team denied this.
The presiding judge said that pool is a “gender-affected activity” and that the exclusion of those who weren’t born female in the female category was required to “secure fair competition”.
Following the ruling, the EBPF reiterated that it that it welcomes transgender players in its ‘open’ category.
Haynes’ expert witness argues she has no advantage
Haynes took the EBPF to court in 2024.
“I am a woman and I have no advantage, so why should I have to play in a category that is going to cast a spotlight on to me and the fact that I have transitioned?” she asked.
In 2024, she was inundated with “horrific” online abuse after her Women’s Champion of Champions final opponent, Lynn Pinches, refused to play her and conceded the game.
Speaking to The Independent last year, Haynes said she would feel “incredibly embarrassed” to be the only female player in an open category.
“The evidence that we’ve received from our expert witnesses shows that I have no advantage,” she said. “They’ve shown that pool isn’t a gender affected sport.”
Representative for Haynes, Matt Champ, said they were “reflecting on the judgment”, and may yet decide to appeal.
The landmark ruling comes after the UK Supreme Court’s decision that the legal definition of a woman is limited to biological success.
In its wake, a number of UK organisations have changed their procedures and rules around the inclusion of transgender people, including the Football Association’s ban on trans women, and the police’s strip search guidelines that people be searched by an officer of the same “biological gender”.
Over in the US, an Executive Order passed in February restricts transgender Americans from participating in sport, with schools and universities that don’t follow it threatened with millions of dollars of funding freezes.
