Pool body sued by transgender player forced to crowdfund money for defence

Telegraph

09-04-2025

A pool federation being sued by a transgender player it banned from women's events is crowdfunding to pay for its defence, stating the cost involved would 'possibly prove beyond our means'.
Harriet Haynes has taken the English Blackpool Pool Federation (EBPF) to court after it changed its eligibility criteria in August 2023 to stop those born male playing on its female tour and county tournaments.
The case is being heard this week at Canterbury county court, with Haynes claiming the EBPF's move amounted to discrimination that had caused her a 'loss of opportunity' and 'injured feelings'.
The EBPF launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for its defence on the Go Get Funding website, something that had raised more than £6,600 by Wednesday morning.
On a page entitled, 'Help us defend our female Blackball competitions from litigation', the EBPF described itself as a 'non profit' sports federation 'wholly run by volunteers'.
Stating 'the cost of defending our stance for fair play will be substantial and possibly prove beyond our means', it added of its rule change: '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.
'As a consequence of this decision, we are being sued by the transgender player Harriet Haynes. Harriet says that the eligibility rules for the female tour are discriminatory on the grounds of gender reassignment. We say that the rules are necessary to secure fair competition and a justified means of promoting female participation in the game.
'We are disappointed that Harriet has chosen to sue an organisation made up entirely of volunteers who give up their time to promote the game of pool in England, but we stand by our decision, and we intend to defend the claim.'
The page was created by the EBPF's chairman, Paul Thomson, and secretary, Anna Goodwin, who were in court on Tuesday defending its position.
Thomson told Canterbury county court that the governing body made its decision following an 'unreal' number of complaints from players.
The court was told around 15-20 anonymous written complaints had been passed to Goodwin but Thomson said many more had been raised personally with members of the EBPF's executive committee.
He also said Haynes was not allowed to play in EBPF events purely because of 'the fact Harriet is a biological male'.
He explained: 'I think the subject was kind of taboo to a certain degree. In this day and age, you can't come out and say what you want to say, because you get called a bigot or transphobic.'
When asked by Haynes' counsel, Robin White, why he had not consulted with transgender players before changing the EBPF's rules, Thomson replied: 'What about the hundreds and hundreds of other women that it affected, am I just supposed to ignore that?
'We had loads of complaints. The amount of complaints was unreal.'
He added: 'As a pool player, I know that males are far superior than what women are at playing pool.'
Goodwin told the court the EBPF's men's category was made into an 'open section' to make it inclusive of all those born male.
She said the decision had been made 'because we didn't think it was fair on our female players', adding: 'We didn't exclude transgender people. We made a section in the open section for them to play.'
What is thought to be the first lawsuit of its kind brought by a transgender athlete in the UK could prove a landmark case in pool and beyond over rules designed to stop those born male taking part in female-only competitions.
A hearing began on Monday, the day after Haynes and Lucy Smith faced off in the Ultimate Pool Women's Pro Series Event 2 at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan on Sunday.
Their match witnessed protests from demonstrators who shouted, 'He's a man and we stand stand with Lynne Pinches', and held up banners saying, 'Save women's sport', and, 'He's a man', as Haynes walked past.
Pinches is the player who forfeited a 2023 final in protest at the participation of Haynes and is part of a separate legal action against the Ultimate Pool Group and World Eightball Pool Federation over their refusal to ban transgender women from their own events.