The English Blackball Pool federation is having to defend protecting the female category in court and need help from us...

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Help us defend our female Blackball competitions from litigation.

The EBPF are a non profit sports federation (NGB) wholly run by volunteers. The EBPF supports the EBA and WPA to promote the game of blackball to players at all levels and have national representation through our counties structure and regional representation through local leagues. As members of world recognised bodies, the EBPF can provide our players with competitions at all levels from local leagues to the World Championships.

On 27 August 2023, we announced that from December 2023, our competitions formerly known as the Ladies’ and Men’s Tours would be replaced with a Female Tour and an Open Pool Tour, and that only biologically born females would be eligible to compete in the Female Pool Tour. 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. John Heath from Levins Solicitors in Liverpool is acting on behalf of the EBPF but as an NGB, the cost of defending our stance for fair play will be substantial and possibly prove beyond our means.
Please donate and help support us to uphold our Constitution to protect fairness for female players in pool. If we are fortunate enough to raise funds in excess to the amount needed for our defence, the surplus will be donated to a similar cause.
Follow us on our Facebook page.

Paul Thomson Chairman
Anna Goodwin Secretary

Good on them.for not backing down in the face of legal threats.

Which platform is their crowdfunder on?

Go get funding 🙂

Thank you for letting us know about the fundraiser - donated. Hope they are successful.

I couldn't see how much they need to raise though, anyone know?

Donated. Good on them for standing their ground. They deserve support.

Thanks OP, hopefully landing in good time for January payday for some. Trans activism really does destroy everything in its path - sports, organisations, political careers, sanity. I'm sure this TRA will be happy if they win and the sport goes bankrupt.

Yes, if he can't cheat then women can't be allowed to play.

Anyone looking to do some gardening might want to look for Help us defend our female Blackball competitions from litigation.

Can someone direct them also to let women play pool as the outcome of that case will possibly influence this one.

I thought that discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment had to compare the treatment of the reassigned person with people of their natal sex? So presumably Harriet is entitled to play in the Open league, as Harriet would have been without gender reassignment? I’d love to be corrected if this is wrong. Assuming it’s right, surely Harriet has no case???

Donated - always worth supporting governing bodies who are trying to maintain the provision of women’s sport

Basically Haynes cannot win - exclusion on the grounds of GR, Sex and Positive Action would all be lawful. Even if the Supreme Court decides that men who have a GRC are women, EBPF can still exclude Haynes on the grounds of GR if they can show it is a gender-affected sport - which is where the other case let women play pool is relevant because they are having to adduce evidence to show that it is a gender-affected sport and if they succeed that will settle the question once and for all.
I think this is probably just punishment by legal process and a publicity stunt by Haynes.

Speaking about the impact of the EBPF’s ban on her career, Ms Haynes said: “After the decisions were announced on social media, I was beyond stunned and saddened. My hobby and passion which meant so much to me was taken from me practically overnight.”

In response to the threat of legal action, the EBPF created a tour that was open to both men and women, which Ms Haynes is eligible to compete in. However, she has said this misses the point, adding: “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 onto 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.”

She continued: “I do not consider that I have an unfair advantage because I went through male puberty. My success in female pool is down to the fact that I practised more than other females during Covid, that I play at any opportunity I can against various players (both male and female), I have had coaching and I have and am still prepared to travel the length and breadth of the country to play in cue sports that are not usual for me, all so that I can improve.”

In their case, the EBPF will argue that players who were born male and have been through male puberty have a competitive advantage over players who were born female and have not been through male puberty.

They argue that cis men and trans women achieve a higher average break speed on their opening shot than cis women.
“Cis” is short for cisgender, meaning someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.
The EBPF also argue that trans women benefit from a greater hand span, stronger fingers and longer limbs.

(Quoted from a surprisingly quite balanced article in the Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/harriet-haynes-transgender-pool-court-women-b2644258.html

By "quite balanced" I mean that they actually put an accurate title "Transgender pool player in court battle after being banned from competing in women’s events" (my bold) and have included the perspectives of both sides)

Oh fuck off Harriet. There’s a category for you to show off your skills. Go on.

Well done English Blackball Pool Federation.

The video in the Independent link I've posted above 👆is well worth a watch for context.

My success in female pool is down to the fact that I practised more than other females during Covid

Wow. Just another way of saying women need to try harder...

Yes exactly @PrimalLass and also a completely groundless claim because Harriet has absolutely no idea how hard women players practised during Covid

(I refuse to write "other females")

Dug got this worthy cause.

Harriet can fuck off with 'I don't believe I have an advantage' - rules do not revolve around what you believe to be true (see also: what sex is this person)

I haven't seen a figure they're aiming for but they have said if there's any left over it will be donated to a similar case. As volunteers they are incredibly brave to make this stand. It must be a financial headache and very stressful to be in this situation.

It's a classic of the Try Harder genre! Always the misogyny shines through

Did some shallow digging. Will try to remember to come back for some proper gardening

I'm generally of the view that this issue isn't important enough for government to intervene in/that individual sports are doing enough to get their own houses in order without the need for heavy-handed intervention, but if it were to get to the stage where every one of these individual sports was getting dragged through the courts, having to fight for every last inch of territory that it wants to preserve for females only, then you do start to wonder...

This quote:

“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 onto 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.”

As if we all can't see this person has 'transitioned' 🤔into the female category.

That is the plan. Look at all the post-Forstater GC discrimination cases which should never have gone to court, or which were settled at the last minute. The process is the punishment.

Surely men can never be women- It’s a biological impossibility.

At what point do the courts start to recognise this and award eg court costs accordingly I wonder?

HH has already got a billet with the Ultimate Pool set-up, which is effectively a rival to the blackball game. So there's a bit of a power struggle going on in pool anyway. The UP people don't seem to object to her taking part, but I didn't realise she wanted to get in on the blackball game as well. I always wonder about the women she plays against, how happy they are to do so? Of course they all smile politely and shake hands, but it does make me wonder. Pool seems to be one of the few sports where men and women can realistically compete against each. Indeed, in amateur competitions that I regularly watch online, there are children competing too. There is this one lad in Yorkshire, he is about ten years old, and he is a remarkable talent, good enough to beat top adults. Which is great, for an open category. The point I'm making is that unlike, say, football or hockey, there is no massive male advantage, and men and women can and do compete against each other. But women's comps should be for natal women.