A heated debate unfolded on GB News between presenters Emily Carver and Tom Harwood over the inclusion of trans athletes in women’s sports. The discussion arose following the recent Ultimate Pool Women’s Pro Series Event 2 final, where Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith, both trans women, competed against each other after defeating four cisgender female opponents to reach the championship match.
During a live segment on “Good Afternoon Britain,” Emily initiated the conversation, prompting Tom for his perspective on the all-trans final. His initial response—a simple “So?”—sparked a tense exchange.
“You have no problem with two transgender women, biological males not only getting to the final but both of them reaching the final and leaving no female contestant left?” Emily questioned.
Tom countered, stating, “I think some people would take issue with you using the word ‘female’ in that way.” When pressed for a definition of “female,” he deflected: “If you’re going to go down the definitional argument, you could pick any item in this room and say, ‘what’s your definition of that’? I’m not going to go down to a definition.”
Accusing Tom of mimicking the political style of Keir Starmer, Emily asserted the necessity of maintaining biological female-only categories. “You either have a women’s category or you don’t,” she declared. “You have a women’s category in pool, and therefore it should only be biological females who are in that, otherwise it’s not fair on many levels.”
She continued, posing direct questions: “Do you believe that a female is someone who identifies as female, rather than has the biological makeup of a female? Or if you’ve had a bit of surgery, and a few hormones, then yes they are?”
The debate was further fueled by recent developments including:
* A trans fencer speaking out after an investigation prompted by their participation.
* Support for female fencers who refused to compete against trans competitors.
* Calls for the reinstatement of sex testing protocols in women’s sports.
Tom responded that while he believed transgender individuals deserved dignity and respect, he disagreed with Emily’s viewpoint. “No, I don’t believe that,” he stated.
Emily challenged Tom’s lack of knowledge regarding the sport itself: “But does that mean they get to go in the women’s category of pool and win the competition? You don’t know anything about this; I’ve looked it up.” Tom then offered a simplistic description of pool as “a game where you have balls on a felt surface and you hit them with a stick.”
Growing increasingly frustrated, Emily highlighted concerns raised by female pool players: “I’ve actually read what female pool players say about this, and they say that biological males have an advantage in pool because they are taller in general and they have a longer arm span. They also have narrower hips.” She concluded with a pointed question: “You don’t know anything about pool or anything about sports in general, do you?”
Emily emphasized the importance of maintaining distinct gender categories: “If you’re arguing that we just have gender-neutral categories in all sports, fine. But otherwise you don’t have a female category. If you have a female category, then you stick to it being female. If you have a male category, you stick to being a male. If you want no categories at all in your particular sport, and everyone within that sport agrees, that is fine.”
Tom attempted to frame Emily’s argument: “So what you’re doing here is you’re trying to say that transgender women are male biologically? Is this just sport that you’d apply it to, or do you want to apply it to every realm of life?”
Emily concluded her remarks by reiterating her position. “I’m currently talking about sport, but you won’t admit that there’s any difference between a transgender female and a female. This isn’t about bigotry, this isn’t about discrimination, this isn’t about saying that these transgender women can’t live their lives; but they can’t compete, in my view, in a female category because they are not female in the same way as a woman is female.”
