Lynee Pinches is the female pool player who, when asked to play against a transgender opponent in a recent tournament, refused to play and walked away, making a quick exit from the women’s tournament. Now, she’s gotten an award, a winner’s trophy, from her pool club for the incident and tournament.
The walk away incident occurred at the Ladies Champions of Champions in Wales, a major pool tournament in Great Britain. Pinches had performed wildly well during the tournament but, when asked to go up against Harriet Haynes, a transgender individual, refused and argued that doing so would be unfair. In walking away, she forfeited, a major sacrifice given how well the tournament was going for her.
Barry Pinches, the sister of Lynee and a pro pool player himself, said, “Full credit and great respect to my sister Lynne Pinches yesterday for taking a stand and not playing in the biggest match of her pool playing life because she feels it’s so unfair to have to compete against a trans woman.”
Well, though Lynne didn’t get to win the Ladies Champions of Champions event, she did get a trophy from a collection of local pool players, and then she promptly took to social media and told her fans on X (formerly Twitter) and shared the goodwill shown to her by those pool players.
Posting a video of the heartwarming moment, Lynne captioned it by saying, “I was overwhelmed yesterday when I walked into the club to be presented by the local players with a winners trophy, cash, flowers, and a card. Although I didn’t win, and for me, it’s about fairness, this wonderful gesture made me feel like a true winner👏 #fairplayforwomen”
Watch the moment here:
Commenting on Lynne’s post, people said things like “You did win. You were the top woman standing. You absolutely won that that trophy. I’m so pleased they all recognized you!!! You won. You deserved it. YOU won the top spot in the women’s division” and “When a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women. You won the women’s event, and you are a true champion. Thank you, Lynne.”
Similarly, Sharon Davies, a British Olympic medal winner, retweeted Lynee’s post and wrote, “This is how the vast majority of the general public feel, yet still NGBs are too cowardly to do the right thing! And don’t get me started on the utterly useless IOC.”
Numerous commenters on the other side disagreed, arguing the Lynne had won only the plaudits of bigots and that she should not have walked away nor then gotten a trophy for walking away from a match. Most compliments seemed to support Lynne, however.
In another post on the trophy matter, Lynne said, “Thanks to each and everyone of you that’s supported me and continues to support Fair Play for Women’s Sport’s. I will continue to stand for Fairness..Titles and money mean nothing without fairness. 💯”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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