Transgender pool champion Harriet Haynes has been branded "selfish and entitled" by Olympian Mara Yamauchi after taking legal action against her sport's federation.Haynes is suing the English Blackball Pool Federation (EBPF) over its decision to ban transgender women from competing in female-only events.FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00It's not slightly unfair. It's very unfair. Pool is a sex affected sport, which means that males have advantages, physical advantages compared to females.
00:09And therefore, you must have a female only category in order for females to take part and excel in this sport fairly.
00:20The physical advantages males have include they are on average taller.
00:24They have longer arms and legs so they can reach across the table more easily.
00:28They have more power so they can get more power behind the break shot, which is the most important shot of the whole game.
00:35So this is a sex affected sport and therefore female category is necessary.
00:40If you allow males into the female category, Harriet Haynes is male, then it ceases to be the female category and becomes a mixed sex category.
00:49So, yes, this federation have done the right thing to say females only in the female category.
00:55But unfortunately, this selfish, entitled man is suing them.
01:00And, you know, I hope they win.
01:02And this case will be very important for the Equality Act, which allows single sex sport in sex affected sports of which pool is one.
01:12To what extent? I mean, you mentioned there's an advantage through being a man.
01:16But in pool, is it quite slight compared to football or cricket or tennis that you are in a relatively small space and strength isn't everything in pool, is it?
01:28It's more accuracy.
01:30Well, Dr. Emma Hilton is giving chapter and verse on the advantages that males have over females in pool at the court case going on.
01:40But whether or not the sex differences in any particular sport are great or small doesn't really matter.
01:48If they exist, however small, then there must be a female category.
01:53You know, the advantage in sports varies.
01:56So in my sport running, it's roughly 10 percent at elite level.
01:59In punching power, it's 162 percent.
02:02But because running is a smaller percentage, you can't say, oh, well, it's only a small percentage.
02:08Let's get rid of the female category.
02:10If there is any sex difference between males and females, then you must have a female category.
02:16And I mean, what Harriet Haynes and his team are effectively calling for is the end of women's pool.
02:22And I wish they would stop arguing about, you know, gender reassignment discrimination and make the case for ending women's pool, which is what they want.
02:32All right. Well, Mara, thank you very much.
02:34I have to confess I agree with every word you've said and I'm very grateful to you for joining me.
02:38But we have got a statement.
02:40So when previously asked about the issue, Harriet Haynes, who is a man calling himself Harriet, hit back at the idea that men have an advantage, saying my success in pool in general is down to my efforts, whether in the women's section or open section.
02:52Coaching helped me progress.
02:54And at his court hearing, Haynes submitted expert evidence to support his case, including from an American professor who argues that as long as a player could break above,
03:02a certain speed, something achievable by both sexes, there was no inherent advantage gained by higher Q velocity.
03:10Well, that's all very interesting.
03:11Thank you again to Mara.