Snooker's transgender inclusion policy to be reviewed after Supreme Court ruling

Powys County Times

28-04-2025

Snooker will review its transgender inclusion policy in light of a landmark UK Supreme Court ruling, the sport's world governing body has said.
The sport currently allows trans women to compete in its female category if they can demonstrate their testosterone has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months, and then maintain it below that level.
However, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has told the PA news agency that policy will now be reviewed after the Supreme Court offered a clarification on the meaning of the Equality Act.
'Following on from the Supreme Court Ruling published on April 16 2025, the WPBSA is conducting a review of its Trans and Gender Diverse Policy,' the body said in a statement.
'The WPBSA's position has always been that its policy would be subject to immediate review should there be a change in circumstances.
'This is a complicated issue as the WPBSA is a world body and has to ensure it complies with equality legislation around the world as well as in the UK.'
The review also comes after pool changed its trans inclusion policy last week following receipt of a report which concluded it was a gender-affected sport.
Under the Equality Act, such sports can lawfully exclude competitors based on sex. The Supreme Court ruling clarified that references to 'sex' in the Equality Act meant 'biological sex'.
The PA news agency understands there are currently no trans women on the World Women's Snooker Tour, which ends next month with the World Championship in China.
One of the women who led a legal challenge in pool which prompted the commissioning of the report into whether it was gender-affected, Lynne Pinches, believes snooker should update its policy.
'Snooker needs to change, and other sports need to change,' she told PA.
'This (legal challenge) has never been about me. This has been about fairness. That needs to be across the board in every sport.
'If pool is gender-affected, then surely shooting is gender-affected, where you've got a gun kicking back on your shoulders, or archery, where it takes a lot of arm and upper chest strength and all the things that were arguable in the break shot in pool.
'This (report) will set a precedent, a lot of sports will want to get a copy of it or work on getting their own done as soon as possible.'
The report in pool was commissioned following a legal challenge by a group of female players including Pinches, Francoise Rogers, Jo Hobday and Holly Cann after Ultimate Pool Group (UPG) and the International Eightball Pool Federation (IEPF) changed its rules to allow trans women to compete in October 2023, two months after banning them.
Pinches has not played a UPG tournament since she conceded a match against trans woman Harriet Haynes in late 2023. She also turned down the chance to turn professional last year as a consequence of the UPG's stance on trans players.