Trans row: Pool group hailed for banning trans competitors from female category: ‘Completely over the moon!’
A female pool player has declared she is “completely over the moon” after one of the top pool associations confirmed a ban on transgender players in gendered categories.
The Ultimate Pool Group has banned trans women from competing in the female category, citing the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex.
Welcoming the “clarity” of the judgement, the group claimed that they have been “caught in a vacuum of uncertainty surrounding the issue of eligibility to participate in its women’s series”.
They added: “The clear conclusion of the biological and cue sports expert who jointly authored the report was that eight-ball pool was a gender-affected sport and that in cue sports female players have unique disadvantages compared to male players and that transgender women retain male advantages.”
Lynne Pinches welcomed the Ultimate Pool Group’s judgement on trans players after ’15 months’ of legal battles
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Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith caused controversy after being two transgender competitors in the final of the pool tournament
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Pinches explained: “The Supreme Court judgement, as fabulous as the judgement was, it didn’t change the Equality Act. It didn’t change the fact that you can only lawfully exclude in gender affected sport. And therefore it didn’t change our legal case for that fact.
“So without the fact that we pushed for this for 15 months and got experts to prove that pool is, in fact, gender affected, without that hard work, we would not be here because the Supreme Court ruling by itself would not change it.”
Hailing the ban on trans players, Pinches told GB News that she is “completely over the moon” with the verdict by the Ultimate Pool Group, as the female players “only wanted fairness”.
Pinches stated: “I honestly cannot thank the public enough for their support. Every single person that’s donated or ever messaged me, I have tried to message all of them back as well, which has been really difficult at times. The support, even from the press, some of the press, we know who they are.
Pinches told GB News that she hopes the judgement will encourage other sports to ban trans players from gendered categories
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“It’s great news. I’m completely over the moon, and we got what we wanted. We wanted fairness, that was all this whole thing was about, was fairness.”
Citing the report which helped the judgement be decided by the group, Pinches concluded by expressing her optimism for other sports following suit and banning trans players from gendered categories.
Pinches told GB News: “I really hope and pray that due to the report and if it does get published, which I’m assuming it will in the future by the top experts that were used, that that will help other sports.
“Because if pool is gender affected, then so is archery and shooting and darts, and all the other ones, because it’s all a similar thing, it really is.”
