Trans women face ban from Hampstead Heath ladies’ pond

TRANSGENDER women could be banned from the ladies’ swimming pond on Hampstead Heath under proposed rule changes at a female-only club.

The Kenwood Ladies’ Pond opened in 1926 and is billed as a “unique women-only space” that “provides a place of refuge and security for women and girls of all ages”. However, it has been open to trans women since 2019, when the City of London Corporation (COLC), which is responsible for running the facility, adopted a new gender identity policy to be “fully compliant with the Equality Act 2010”.

The rule has sparked controversy among swimmers, with 150 women staging a protest on the north London beauty spot in 2022 to “let women swim”. A further row has now erupted after a member of the Kenwood Ladies Pond Association (KLPA), which has around 1,000 members, requested a vote to amend its constitution and consider a ban on trans swimmers at its annual general meeting on March 3.

If passed, the change would mean the word woman is “interpreted literally and biologically so that only those born female in sex can use the pond”. The resolution adds that men who call themselves women, see themselves as women, claim to be women, identify as women, or wish to be women “are to be excluded”.

It adds: “To reflect this, the constitution will be amended to insert the word ‘biological female’ as clarification where necessary.”

The resolution proposes that, if passed, the KLPA should “seek to influence” the COLC, which is responsible for running the facility, to change its stance on the issue.

However, the swimming group’s leaders are attempting to block the vote from taking place, saying the proposal would likely be “unlawful” and “impossible to enforce”.

The KLPA has consistently said it is committed to helping to create an inclusive environment for all women, including transgender women. Pauline Latchem and Beth Feresten, the co-chairmen of the KLPA, said in a statement: “The KLPA management committee has appended to the AGM [annual general meeting] papers a formal response explaining that it is in receipt of legal opinion that the proposal is likely to be unlawful and that, pending further legal advice, the amendment may be removed from consideration at the AGM.

“In addition, the committee officers have reiterated that all women are welcome to join the KLPA and recorded their opinion that it would be irresponsible and contrary to good governance to recommend to the membership a proposal that is likely to be unlawful as well as impossible to enforce.” The COLC’S policy does not distinguish between trans women who have medically transitioned through hormone changes and surgery, and those who have transitioned socially by changing their name and appearance.

It means that any swimmer who identifies as a woman is entitled to use the ladies’ ponds.

Some Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women have said they feel they can no longer use the ladies’ pond since the ruling in 2019.

Hampstead Heath also includes a male pond and a mixed pond, and has in recent years counted the actress Helena Bonham Carter and novelist Esther Freud among its swimmers.