I am thrilled that trans women are allowed to swim in Hampstead ladies’ pond

The essence of the north London bathing area is inclusivity, says Olivia Petter

In some much-needed good news, the Hampstead Heath ladies’ pond can continue to be an inclusive space. On Thursday, a High Court bid to ban trans women from the beloved cold water swimming spot was thrown out, with the judge ruling that the proper forum for such a claim was the county court.

Brought by the gender-critical campaigning group, Sex Matters, the legal challenge came after the Supreme Court ruling last year that determined the terms “woman” and “sex” as referred to in the Equality Act do not include trans women with gender recognition certificates. As a result, Sex Matters argued that allowing trans women into the ladies’ pond, which features a “Women Only” sign at its gates, amounted to discrimination.

“In my view, the more appropriate person to bring this claim is an individual who says that they have been discriminated against by decisions about access to the ponds,” said Mrs Justice Lieven. Maya Forstater, the CEO of Sex Matters, said “the fight for women’s safety, privacy and dignity in single-sex spaces will continue” despite the ruling and added that the claim was “ruled out on procedural grounds”.

Still, it has been viewed as a big win for trans rights, which will come as a relief to the 86 per cent of people who favour keeping the pond’s trans-inclusive policies, according to a new consultation carried out by the City of London that involved more than 38,000 people. I’m one of them, and have written about why before. In short, the ladies’ pond has always been about celebrating inclusivity, and for me and all of my friends who’ve been visiting regularly since we were teenagers, that extends to trans women.

In a society where women are consistently told to squash and squeeze their bodies so that they conform to unrealistic beauty standards, here is a place where none of that matters. Women of all shapes, ages and sizes can walk, swim and chat freely and openly with one another. It’s a haven, one that has been welcoming trans women for years without any issues.

The case at the High Court on who could swim at Hampstead Heath ladies’ pond found that trans women should be welcome (AFP via Getty Images)

Seeing the ruling, I can’t help but feel that this was an enormous waste of everyone’s time (and money), not least because most people who use the pond support trans women using it – 84 per cent of the City of London’s respondents had swum at the ponds. If we’re looking at this from a data point of view, Sex Matters occupies a far smaller demographic that has been disproportionately amplified, perhaps due to its social media presence (the organisation has 8,000 followers on Instagram and 116,000 on X) and funding – the group raised more than £65,000 to support its case against the ponds, according to The Good Law Project.

It seems to me that Sex Matters doesn’t actually care about who is and isn’t swimming at the Hampstead ladies’ pond. Even if all of the members of the campaign group had been for a dip, they can’t have been regularly. Otherwise, they’d know that being inclusive of all those who identify as women is at the heart of this space. Its welcoming, warm and inherently safe (yes: safe!) atmosphere is part of what makes it so special and popular among its regulars, of which I am one. Far from being the pernicious battleground Sex Matters seems to perceive it to be, that pond – and its accompanying meadow – is, I’d argue, one of the safest spaces for women in London.

For groups like this, the ladies’ pond is nothing more than an opportunity. One that enables them to shout louder, and stamp more violently, in order to perpetuate their aggressive agendas, which today feel like little more than an attempt to bully trans people out of public life, while distracting everyone from the real problems that women are facing.

On this occasion, Sex Matters failed. Evidently, myself and thousands of other pond swimmers will hope that they continue to do so.