Controversy overshadowed the British Mini Series Pool Championships last weekend as transgender competitors Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith were allowed to play. Both Haynes and Smith are biological males.
Haynes and Smith faced each other in the semi-finals, with each losing their biologically female opponents. Haynes won this match and advanced to the finals. There, Welshwoman Kirsty-Lee Davies was the last person to win the women's title at Haynes.
Haynes took an early lead five frames ahead of Davis and came within a whisker of winning the title. But that's when Davis picked up the win to avoid elimination, snapping a four-fight winning streak to complete the comeback and win the championship.
The Women's Rights Network applauded Davies for her victory, writing: “Despite the best efforts of pool officials to thwart her chances by allowing two men to compete in the women's division.” However, WRN also noted that both Haynes and Smith will receive prize money for reaching the final and semi-finals respectively, which is “a woman's right.”
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The rules of both the English Pool Association and the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) state that trans-identified athletes can compete in the sport without any restrictions. According to their website. These regulations are under review by the EPA starting in December 2023.
In August 2023, WEPF announced that it was updating its guidelines to only allow the sport to be played by “born females”.
“We understand that this decision may raise questions and discussions in our sport. We would like to reiterate that our commitment to sporting values, social inclusion and adherence to regulatory standards remains unwavering,” WEPF said at the time. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure the continued growth and development of the sport we all love, while maintaining a harmonious balance between inclusion and competitive integrity. We recognize the importance of fostering an environment in which everyone can participate and thrive, and we are committed to upholding these principles to the best of our ability.”
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But then, in October this year, WEPF is the opposite These protections allow transgender people to compete as long as they identify as women for at least four years and provide evidence of lower testosterone levels.
Transgender participation in women's sports has become an internationally debated and hotly debated issue during the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Survey in June Administered by NORC at the University of Chicago Respondents were asked to consider whether transgender athletes of either gender should be allowed to participate in sports leagues that match their preferred gender identity rather than their biological sex, and 65% said it should never be allowed or is rare. When respondents were asked specifically about adult transgender athletes competing on women's sports teams, 69% were opposed.
Former President Trump took a strong stance against including transgender people in the White House campaign. Trump's wife, former first lady Melania Trump, also recently spoke out in her new memoir, “Melania,” against allowing biological men to play women's sports, even though she disagreed with most Republican policies regarding LGBT rights.
Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration has taken sweeping steps to enable transgender inclusion.
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In April, the administration issued a wide-ranging order clarifying that Title IX's ban on sex discrimination in schools includes discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions.”
rules It entered into force on August 1 and was established for the first time Gender discrimination involves conduct that relates to an individual gender identity. The Biden administration has emphasized that the rule does not apply to athletic ability. However, several expert Drs evidence presented Biden's claim to Fox News Digital in June that it would prevent biological men from participating in women's sports is untrue and that the proposal would ultimately result in more biological men participating in women's sports.
D Supreme Court After more than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued to block the Title IX changes in their own states, a 5-4 vote to reject Biden's emergency request to enact parts of new regulations that include protections for transgender students from discrimination under Title IX .
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