‘Do not talk about trans ruling,' staff at Highgate Men's Pond told

Telegraph

05-05-2025

Staff at Highgate Men's Pond have been told not to discuss the Supreme Court's transgender ruling with swimmers, The Telegraph can reveal.
In a move described as 'draconian' by women's rights activists, the City of London Corporation responsible for the Hampstead Heath ponds told staff they 'must not get drawn into any conversations' with swimmers about the ruling.
Last week, the London authority announced that transgender people could continue to access the single-sex bathing ponds, despite the court's unanimous judgement.
The authority confirmed its gender self-ID policy would 'remain in effect at this time' at both the Men's Pond and Kenwood Ladies' Pond. Campaigners described the decision as 'unlawful' and said a third, unisex pond was available.
It has now emerged that corporation staff at the Men's Pond have been ordered not to speak about the ruling or their employer's stance.
A notice in the staff hut states: 'Until further notices from our senior management team we must not get drawn into any conversations with swimmers or visitors about the ruling.'
If asked about the issue, staff are instructed to reply: 'We are continuing as we are until we hear further from our senior management team'.
They are also told to refer questions to the press office and report any swimmer who raises concerns over the lack of single-sex provision to their line manager.
The notice ends: 'Please make sure you report any issues or inappropriate behaviour related to the above, using our incident reporting form and let your Team Leader know so we can escalate accordingly.'
It comes as campaigners prepare to stage a protest at the Men's Pond on Monday, dubbed 'Bank Holiday Man-Day'.
Venice Allan, 49, a feminist activist leading efforts to restore Kenwood Ladies' Pond as a female-only space, said campaigners plan to take over the male bathing spot to demonstrate against the London authority's failure to ban trans women from the women's pond.
In a similar 2018 protest, women in fake beards and swimsuits were removed by police.
'Dragging staff into complicity'
She said: 'There are three ponds and people with gender identities are safe and welcome at the mixed-sex pond. We will continue to invade the men's space until ours is female-only again.'
Ms Allan also criticised the decision by council chiefs to limit what swimming staff can say about the ruling, saying they are being made complicit.
She said: 'Not content with breaking the law, the City of London Corporation is now dragging its own staff into complicity. This draconian order appears to gag workers from even acknowledging their employer's unlawful conduct to the public.
'It also instructs staff to report any instance of a swimmer having the temerity to question the breach – effectively encouraging them to inform on concerned members of the public to senior Corporation bosses. It's chilling.'
Last week, a prominent barrister told The Telegraph that continuing to label the ponds as 'men's' and 'ladies'' could now expose the corporation to legal challenge.
'Result in de facto single-sex facility for men'
Sarah Vine KC said that if the City of London Corporation wished to maintain its gender self-ID stance, it 'should not describe the ponds as anything other than mixed-sex'.
She said: 'Any continued description of two of the ponds as 'men's' and 'ladies' will expose the Corporation to discrimination claims; the practical effect of doing so is far more likely to result in a de facto single-sex facility for men, who can enjoy the consequential privacy, with no corresponding provision for women.'
Responding to criticism of their stance last week, the City of London Corporation told The Telegraph that 'accusations' their policy was unlawful were 'completely false'.
A spokesman said: 'The City Corporation is compliant with existing UK law.
'In line with other affected organisations we are carefully considering the judgement and awaiting statutory guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission – which service providers must take into account.'
They added that a 'carefully considered decision' will be taken on the issue 'in due course'.