Transgender women now banned from pool’s female category

April 25, 2025 International

The latter prompted UPG to commission a report into whether eight-ball pool was a gender-affected sport as defined by the Equality Act, the outcome of which has also played a part in it becoming the second professional UK pool organisation to ban trans women from its female category.

The English Blackball Pool Federation became the first in 2023, only for Haynes to take it to court earlier this month. A judgment on Haynes’s lawsuit is pending but is also expected to be affected by the Supreme Court ruling.

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“We respect that some people within the pool community may find the changes challenging. As an organisation, we are committed to being empathetic to all members of our community and we expect all members of our community to reflect this.”

Is eight-ball pool a gender-affected sport?

The rationale behind the change was explained in an update to its terms and conditions on its website. It read: “Since its inception UPG has been caught in a vacuum of uncertainty surrounding the issue of eligibility to participate in its women’s series. Two recent developments have now made the position clear.

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“Crucially this report was commissioned to reach a conclusion not only on the question of whether there were biological differences between women born as women and transgender women recognised as women by way of a Gender Recognition Certificate, but also whether any biological differences meant that transgender women had an advantage in the specific sport of eight-ball pool.

“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.

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“The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner has confirmed that the ruling has brought clarity and that trans women cannot take part in women’s sport and that the EHRC would pursue organisations which do not update their policies. UPG welcomes the clarity which this judgment brings.”