Trans pool player Harriet Haynes to challenge ban in landmark court appeal
Harriet Haynes (Instagram/harriet.haynes)
Harriet Haynes, a transgender pool player, is set to return to court to challenge her exclusion from women’s English eight-ball competitions, in a case that could have far-reaching implications for transgender participation in sport.
After losing a discrimination claim against the English Blackball Pool Federation last August, Haynes has now been granted permission to appeal.
Her case is expected to test how last April’s Supreme Court ruling defining “woman” as biologically female applies in sporting contexts.
Haynes said in a 16 April statement to The Independent: “The appeal grant in itself has gone as well as we could have ever expected…
“We are so close, yet so far. If we win on any one of the points, we’ll be in a really good spot. It’s all about integrity and fairness, that’s the whole point of our case.”
Her legal team is also expected to raise human rights concerns by arguing that the Supreme Court ruling does not comply with Articles 8 and 14 of the ECHR, which protect private life and prohibit discrimination, respectively.
The case is being closely watched as a potential legal benchmark.
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