Trans pool star Harriet Haynes loses discrimination case after ban from women’s competitions
Harriet Haynes’ discrimination case has been dismissed (Canva)
Harriet Haynes' discrimination case has been dismissed (Canva)
Transgender pool player Harriet Haynes has lost her discrimination case against the English Blackball Pool Federation after she was banned from its women’s competitions in 2023.
Trans pool player Harriet Haynes was banned from women’s competitions and teams organised by the English Blackball Pool Federation (EBPF) in August of 2023.
While the EBPF said at the the time that Haynes would be able to play in the open category (for trans women and men) in order to ensure “equality and fairness for all”, Haynes claimed that the policy discriminated against her on the basis of her gender reassignment – a protected characteristic under 2010’s Equality Act.
After a lengthy fight, during which she won the Ultimate Pool Women’s Pro Series Event 2 in Wigan in April, in a final alongside fellow trans player Lucy Smith, Haynes has lost her legal challenge.
The BBC report that Haynes argued the ruling was “direct discrimination” against her on the grounds of her gender reassignment – but a court judge replied that exclusion was the only “reasonable” way to ensure “fair competition. He dismissed her claim.
Haynes took the organisation to court in 2024, saying: “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?”
“I would feel incredibly embarrassed by being forced into a position where I was the only female playing in an open category,” Haynes told The Independent the same year
She added to the publication before the ruling: “The evidence that we’ve received from our expert witnesses shows that I have no advantage. They’ve shown that pool isn’t a gender affected sport.”
Opponents argued that cis men and trans women would have an advantage over cis women because they are able to hit their break shot with greater speed.
“We made this decision in the interests of fairness, because we believe that people who have gone through male puberty have a competitive advantage over biological women,” EBPF chairman Paul Thomson and national secretary Anna Goodwin said in 2024.
The result comes after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is confined to biological sex and is therefore trans-exclusionary in April.
Toilet rules at universities, the FA’s ban on trans women, and police strip-search guidance have all been altered following the ruling.
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