Hampstead Ladies’ Pond opened to transitioning men

MEN transitioning to be women will be allowed to use the Ladies’ Pond on London’s Hampstead Heath after calls for it to become “gender fluid”.

However, some who use the facility fear the ruling could encourage men who are not transitioning to take advantage of the ruling.

Margaret Roberts, a veteran swimmer, said she had asked a man who claimed to identify as a woman but “looked and dressed like a male” to leave, but he had refused. She told the Mail on Sunday that fellow pond users were “appalled” when a “young man”, who wore a bikini and said he was transitioning to become a woman, came to use the pond this summer.

Julie Bindel, a feminist writer who swims at the pond, said: “It is totally unacceptable to allow men who identify as women, but who are otherwise male bodied and socialised as men, to be in a women-only space.

A spokesman for the City of London Corporation, which manages the lake, confirmed that men transitioning to women will be allowed to use the pond and the female changing rooms.

He said: “We are working with the LGBTQ community to ensure our facilities are fit to serve the needs of everyone who enjoys them.”