Hampstead Ladies' Pond fails to ban trans women
Hampstead Heath Ladies' Pond has refused to ban trans women despite a Supreme Court ruling.
The women-only bathing spot is maintaining its inclusive policy even though the UK's highest court has found that trans women are not legally female.
Kenwood Ladies' Pond, which opened a century ago for women and girls, became a flashpoint in the debate over trans rights after the City of London Corporation adopted a self-ID policy in 2019.
Gender-critical feminists have fought to 'reclaim' the pond – the UK's sole women-only natural bathing pool – but their campaign has been contested bitterly by trans activists, including broadcaster India Willoughby.
On Wednesday, the London authority – which also oversees the neighbouring Hampstead Heath men's and mixed ponds – confirmed its self-ID policy would 'remain in effect at this time' while it considered the implications of the Supreme Court judgment.
The decision not to suspend pond access for trans women has drawn sharp criticism from feminist campaigners, who call the policy 'invasive, discriminatory and unlawful'. A prominent barrister also told The Telegraph that continuing to label the ponds as 'men's' and 'ladies'' could now expose the corporation to legal challenge.
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'.
'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,' she said.
She added: 'This is despite the fact that women's overall need for safety and privacy is generally higher than that of men.'
Venice Allan, 49, a feminist activist at the centre of a campaign to restore the pond as a single-sex space, told The Telegraph she was not surprised by the local authority's response.
'It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that the Corporation is trying to fudge this,' she said.
Ms Allan was the first woman to be banned from the Kenwood Ladies' Pond Association, which represents regular users, after objecting to biological men being granted access.
Explaining her passion for the issue, she told The Telegraph that women 'need women's spaces for our safety, privacy and dignity, and also – in this case – for our joy.'
'The ponds are stunningly beautiful and special to any woman who goes. Going for the first time when I was 21 was one of my first experiences of a women-only space that wasn't utilitarian. I thought, 'Oh wow, this is what women-only spaces can be like.'
There's no splashing, shouting or pushing in, like in most mixed pools where boys and men dominate.'
On August 27, 2022, she participated in a 'Let Women Swim' protest on Hampstead Heath against the gender self-ID policy. The campaign was opposed by prominent trans women including Willoughby.
On the morning of the protest, Willoughby, who is in a long-running row with JK Rowling over trans rights, sunbathed beside the ladies pool wearing a bikini and posted it online, saying it was 'a great way to keep fit'.
Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at the human rights charity Sex Matters, told The Telegraph: 'Feminist campaigners have been telling the City of London for years that its policy allowing men into facilities such as Kenwood Ladies' Pond on Hampstead Heath is invasive, discriminatory and unlawful, but those women were ignored.
'Now the Supreme Court's decision makes the inclusion of men in designated women's spaces untenable.
'The City of London and those managing women's swimming facilities need to admit defeat and immediately restore boundaries that respect the safety, dignity and privacy of women who have the right to expect clear rules based on biological sex.
'Each day the City of London and other local authorities delay aligning their policies on women's spaces with the law is one more day at serious risk of legal action.'
'Is compliant with existing UK law'
On Wednesday a spokesman for the City of London Corporation told The Telegraph its policy was not unlawful.
He said: 'These accusations are completely false. The City Corporation is compliant with existing UK law.
'In line with other affected organisations we are carefully considering the judgment and awaiting statutory guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission – which service providers must take into account.
He added that 'a carefully considered decision... will be take in due course' and that they 'reman committed to providing a safe... environment for all'.
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