Upcoming ‘trans joy’ event aims to ‘reclaim’ Hampstead Heath ponds: ‘Whose ponds? Our ponds!’
The event follows the launch of a public consultation over access arrangements at the ponds (DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
The event follows the launch of a public consultation over access arrangements at the ponds (DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
A morning of trans joy and community celebration will take place to, as the organisers put it, “reclaim Hampstead Heath from the TERFs”, as a public consultation on single-sex access to the ponds is underway following the threat of legal action from a gender-critical group.
Kenwood Ladies’, Highgate Men’s, and Hampstead Mixed ponds in north London are all run by the City of London Corporation (CoLC) and are popular swimming and relaxation spots for Londoners.
Opened in 1926, the ponds have long been trans-inclusive but in recent years gender-critical groups and activists have campaigned to exclude trans people from the ponds that align with their gender, with particular negativity directed at trans women who swim in the ladies’ pond.
In 2019, the CoLC published a policy formally acknowledging trans people’s right to swim in the single-sex ponds and five years later, in 2024, the support for inclusion was reaffirmed when members of the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond Association (KLPA) voted to reject a different policy which would have redefined the word ‘woman’ to mean “only those born female in sex”.
However, following the UK Supreme Court’s controversial decision in April – which ruled the legal definition of “sex” and “woman” for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act refer to “biological sex” and “biological women” only – and subsequent Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) interim single-sex spaces guidance – the gender-critical group Sex Matters vowed to take legal action against the CoCL if it did not ban trans swimmers from using the ponds that match their gender.
In response, the CoCL launched a public consultation at the beginning of October to “help inform future access arrangements”.
On Saturday (8 November), The Dyke Project – a trans, cis and non-binary dyke collective which previously disrupted a meeting of The Lesbian Project, an organisation launched in 2023 by gender-critical activists Kathleen Stock and Julie Bindel, and which also previously replaced London bus stop ads with stories from queer people in Palestine – will hold a community event at Parliament Hill Bandstand to to reclaim the ponds.
“We are horrified by the public consultation on trans inclusion in the ponds,” the group wrote in a social media post announcing the event. “This is part of a wider move from well-funded terf groups to exclude trans people from public life. But let’s make one thing clear. The dignity and right to nature for trans and gender nonconforming members of our community is not up for debate!
“That’s why on 8th November, The Dyke Project and some of our friends have organised a morning of celebration to reclaim Hampstead Heath from the terfs. How will we do this? By having a fabulous time!
“We have organised a morning of activities (sports, foraging, queer history, screen printing + more!) to celebrate some of the beautiful things about our community and resist the transphobia of the consultation.”
The free community gathering will see attendees able to screen print their own dyke-power t-shirt, take part in a foraging walk with a queer forager and a queer history walk to learn more about the Heath, as well as play sports and games amongst many other activities.
Previously, the CoCL has disagreed the ladies’ and men’s ponds constitute single-sex spaces namely because trans people are allowed to swim there, stating “the ladies’ pond was not a single-sex facility… precisely because trans women are permitted to access the swimming facilities” and therefore the “corporation recognises, following the Supreme Court’s ruling, that it is not providing single-sex facilities as defined within the [Equality Act]”.
The corporation added terms such as “woman” and “man”, which are seen as biological terms by the Supreme Court, is not the same as how the CoCL views them, outlining such language “must be read in light of the access arrangements in place at the ladies’ pond, pursuant to which both trans women and biological women have been permitted to access the pond for many years”.
In response to this, Sex Matter’s Maya Forstater claimed the CoCL’s interpretation of language was “nothing more than linguistic trickery”.
“The corporation claims that, because it chooses to define “women” and “men” according not to biological sex but to who wants to be referred to as ‘she’ or ‘he’, the Supreme Court judgement doesn’t apply,” she said.
“Neither Hampstead Heath nor the City of London Corporation are sovereign entities that get to make their own laws.
The consultation on access arrangements for the ponds can be filled out until November 25, it can be viewed at www.hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.is.
