{"id":1752910,"date":"2026-02-05T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1752910"},"modified":"2026-02-05T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:00:00","slug":"the-women-fighting-for-trans-inclusion-at-hampstead-ponds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1752910","title":{"rendered":"The women fighting for trans inclusion at Hampstead ponds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1024\/0-0-1024-682\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436091.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/life-culture\/article\/69529\/1\/the-women-fighting-for-trans-inclusion-at-hampstead-heath-ponds-sex-matters\" data-article-id=\"69529\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.5\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GettyImages-1005639160\" class=\"img\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1024\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436091.jpg\" width=\"1024\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Tolga Akmen\/AFP via <span class=\"nowrap\">Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-02-05T11:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - life-culture\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>The women fighting for trans inclusion at <span class=\"nowrap\">Hampstead ponds<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>The High Court has rejected a legal challenge attempting to ban trans people from Hampstead Heath\u2019s single-sex ponds. Good Law Project speaks to the activists and regular swimmers behind the movement to keep the <span class=\"nowrap\">ponds inclusive<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-05T11:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-05T11:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/Alicemccool\">Alice McCool<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>When Beth Feresten moved to London, she was in awe of the Ladies\u2019 Pond; a place to swim alongside herons and escape the city. She joined the Kenwood Ladies\u2019 Pond Association hoping to make friends, joking that as an introvert, she \u201cjust wanted to hand out tea.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>But she did not expect to be thrown into a political \u201cculture war.\u201d As co-chair, Beth, now 58, faced down intimidation from anti-trans groups to oversee a vote that cemented the Association\u2019s inclusive ethos in 2024. It was, she says, \u201cthe hardest thing I have ever done, and also the thing I\u2019m the most proud of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Two years on, her defence of the space has been further backed by the High Court. Last Thursday, anti-trans group Sex Matters, which raised more than \u00a365,000 to try and force the pond to ban trans people, was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/goodlawproject.org\/hampstead-heath-ponds-to-remain-inclusive\/\"><span>denied permission<\/span><\/a><span> to take the City of London to court over the matter. The same day, the City published its\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityoflondon.gov.uk\/things-to-do\/green-spaces\/hampstead-heath\/activities-at-hampstead-heath\/swimming-at-hampstead-heath\/hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds-consultation\"><span>public consultation<\/span><\/a><span> in which more than 32,000 people said they wanted the ponds to remain trans inclusive \u2013 86 per cent of respondents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>32-year-old Rachel Padilla, a policy officer at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/transactual.org.uk\/\"><span>TransActual<\/span><\/a><span>, thought the pond was \u201ca utopia\u201d the first time she went, but over the years she and her friends who are also trans have become increasingly scared of going \u2013 particularly after they saw someone wearing an \u201cadult human female\u201c t-shirt there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She tells\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/goodlawproject.org\/\"><span>Good Law Project<\/span><\/a><span> she is \u201cheartened\u201d by the news. She describes anti-trans groups as \u201cuninterested in what the vast majority of people want when it does not fit their narrow vision of the world,\u201d adding that their mission to expel trans people from public life has meant they \u201ccannot even wait for process, consultation, or actual complaint before jumping on service providers with expensive litigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Since October, Good Law Project lawyers and journalists heard from dozens of women about why they want the ponds to remain trans-inclusive. This has included women who swim there every day of the year \u2013 rain or shine \u2013 and women who have been frequenting the ponds since they were children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>It\u2019s not a problem. Other people are creating a problem, inflaming it and deciding that there is a problem<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Ruthie Petrie, 84, is a lesbian feminist who has been coming to the ponds since the 70s and has swam there almost every day for the past 15 years. She said she has always agreed with openness, dignity and respect towards \u201cpeople\u2019s chosen sexuality and gender and self-presentation [\u2026] there\u2019s never been, for me, a question of hiving off trans women as though somehow this was completely unacceptable to society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a witness statement gathered by Good Law Project, a woman who was a lifeguard in 2019 recounted how a small group used to repeatedly approach her and claim that a trans woman was behaving inappropriately in the changing room. \u201cBut often another lifeguard would have been in the changing room at the same time and confirmed that nothing like that had happened \u2013 it was completely invented,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When we reached out to Sex Matters, they offered no evidence that they were advancing the views of anything more than a minority. They did not respond to the overwhelming majority of pond users in the City of London\u2019s consultation who said they wanted the ponds to remain trans inclusive. They also said nothing about their plans for the \u00a365,000 they raised in the hope of challenging the corporation\u2019s existing policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They did insist that the testimonies they shared came from women \u201cwho swim regularly at the ponds\u201d, citing one witness who recalled a feeling of \u201cnot being safe\u201d. <\/span><span>This person recalled an encounter with someone in the changing rooms who they seem to have thought was trans. The witness said she felt \u201ctrapped\u201d because she was naked and this person was standing between her and her towel. She also felt her \u201cprivacy was badly violated\u201d and interpreted the other person\u2019s behaviour as \u201c<\/span><span>demeaning, abusive, aggressive and intimidating\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But for Ruth Hallgarten, 52, who Good Law Project spoke to during the celebration of the winter solstice at the ponds, the issues raised by such groups are \u201cnot a problem\u201d. \u201cOther people are creating a problem,\u201d Ruth says, \u201cinflaming it and deciding that there is a problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The scene at the celebration is idyllic \u2013 the deck has been adorned with branches and flowers, and swimmers ring a bell and make a wish before entering the icy water. Once out, women hand out hot drinks and homemade cakes. It\u2019s not hard to see why the Ladies\u2019 Pond, which marks its centenary this year, is a sacred space for \u00a0somany \u2013 a lifeline for women in mental crises, pregnant women, religious women who do not feel comfortable swimming in mixed spaces \u2013 and even women who have experienced homelessness. It is a lifeline they never want to be taken away from trans women.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Mary Powell, 54, became a regular winter swimmer at the p about 15 years ago. Despite coming from a different class background to some of the women \u2013 some of whom she remembers were \u201cvery posh\u201d \u2013 Mary says she still felt welcomed into the group. <\/span><span>As a trade unionist, Mary said she had long understood to respect people\u2019s gender identity thanks to the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act. She also had a trans colleague in the 90s. \u201cThis was at a Catholic organisation. The nuns didn\u2019t seem bothered. They were tough old nuns who\u2019d seen it all, and they just shrugged and got on with their jobs.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>Mary also mentions two Orthodox Jewish women who are regular pond swimmers, who \u201care not happy being used as a sort of emblem for the gender-critical brigade.\u201d She remembers one of them standing up at the AGM in 2024 and telling the anti-trans activists: \u201cYou don\u2019t speak for me.\u201d But she was heckled. <\/span><span>At another point in the meeting, an anti-trans activist stood on a chair shouting while another took a video of her \u2013 despite the Association having previously agreed that there would be no filming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At the pond itself, women have also been made to feel unsafe by anti-trans activists. Mary remembers some \u201cstanding at the gate, looking up and down at anybody that came in to decide if they were sufficiently woman enough.\u201d <\/span><span>This was \u201cself-defeating,\u201d explains Mary, because not only did it go against everything the pond\u00a0 stands for \u2013 which accepts women of all shapes and sizes \u2013 but it resulted in male police officers entering the space.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>You can bring your sadness and you can bring your pain, and the Pond erases that<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>In an official comment sent to Good Law Project, Kenwood Ladies\u2019 Pond Association said that they are \u201crelieved\u201d that Sex Matters case has been halted, describing it as a \u201cproxy political battle.\u201d They also referred to the 2024 AGM in which they said there was \u201can attempt by a group of gender-critical activists, who were not known to be keen swimmers, to try to take over the association.\u201d They added that any swimmer who is made to feel unsafe is \u201cstrongly encouraged to approach the staff on duty for support,\u201d and that \u201cwe believe many of our members would simply like to be left to swim in peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPeople\u2019s identity and wellbeing is tied to nature in ways that are deeply embodied. Exclusion from these landscapes and spaces doesn\u2019t just close doors, it fractures our sense of belonging in the world,\u201d says Lenny Rajmont, trans architect and founder of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.queerscapes.com\/\"><span>Queerscapes<\/span><\/a><span>. <\/span><span>While Rajmont welcomes last week\u2019s setback for Sex Matters, he describes the broader rollback of rights we are seeing as \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d \u2013 for example, the impact Girlguiding\u2019s new policy will have on trans girls\u2019 access to nature and outdoor programmes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSwimming access already has stark inequalities across socio-economic and ethnic minority communities,\u201d he adds, warning that \u201clayering on trans exclusion fundamentally contradicts what we know about nature\u2019s necessity for human health and survival.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>For Beth, defending inclusivity at the onds took its toll on her mental health, to the point she was struggling to eat and sleep. \u201cBut when I wanted to walk away, I thought, God \u2013 I have a nice privilege that I can walk away. But for trans people, they can\u2019t walk away from the bullying and violence.\u201d And so she kept going, seeking solace in the nature and community that defines the Ladies\u2019 Pond.<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>\u201cThis sounds silly, but in the water I\u2019ll often say gratitude for all the women who\u2019ve swam here before, and all of their strengths, whatever they have gone through, like cancer, divorces, deaths,\u201d says Beth, as we near the end of our chat at the pond\u2019s side, its resident fox meandering just a metre away from us. <\/span><span>\u201cYou can bring your sadness and you can bring your pain, and the pond erases that. And you can harness the collective strength of the women who\u2019ve swum over the years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span>This story was published in collaboration with Good Law Project, a non-profit<\/span><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/goodlaw.social\/glpdazed\"><em><span> powered by people across the UK<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span> to resist hate and bring hope.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. 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href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69384\/1\/sign-up-for-dazed-and-jim-beams-game-day-giveaway\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\">Jim Beam<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jim Beam\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-1-2400-1597\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/4\/1434897.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Sign up for Dazed and Jim Beam\u2019s game day giveaway<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69449\/1\/is-2026-the-year-of-analogue-tiktok-trend-social-media-offline\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1397686\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/121-0-1055-702\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/4\/1434540.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Is 2026 the year of analogue?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>When Beth Feresten moved to London, she was in awe of the Ladies\u2019 Pond; a place to swim alongside herons and escape the city. She joined the Kenwood Ladies\u2019 Pond Association hoping to make friends, joking that as an introvert, she \u201cjust wanted to hand out tea.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>But she did not expect to be thrown into a political \u201cculture war.\u201d As co-chair, Beth, now 58, faced down intimidation from anti-trans groups to oversee a vote that cemented the Association\u2019s inclusive ethos in 2024. It was, she says, \u201cthe hardest thing I have ever done, and also the thing I\u2019m the most proud of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Two years on, her defence of the space has been further backed by the High Court. Last Thursday, anti-trans group Sex Matters, which raised more than \u00a365,000 to try and force the pond to ban trans people, was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/goodlawproject.org\/hampstead-heath-ponds-to-remain-inclusive\/\"><span>denied permission<\/span><\/a><span> to take the City of London to court over the matter. The same day, the City published its\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityoflondon.gov.uk\/things-to-do\/green-spaces\/hampstead-heath\/activities-at-hampstead-heath\/swimming-at-hampstead-heath\/hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds-consultation\"><span>public consultation<\/span><\/a><span> in which more than 32,000 people said they wanted the ponds to remain trans inclusive \u2013 86 per cent of respondents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>32-year-old Rachel Padilla, a policy officer at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/transactual.org.uk\/\"><span>TransActual<\/span><\/a><span>, thought the pond was \u201ca utopia\u201d the first time she went, but over the years she and her friends who are also trans have become increasingly scared of going \u2013 particularly after they saw someone wearing an \u201cadult human female\u201c t-shirt there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She tells\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/goodlawproject.org\/\"><span>Good Law Project<\/span><\/a><span> she is \u201cheartened\u201d by the news. She describes anti-trans groups as \u201cuninterested in what the vast majority of people want when it does not fit their narrow vision of the world,\u201d adding that their mission to expel trans people from public life has meant they \u201ccannot even wait for process, consultation, or actual complaint before jumping on service providers with expensive litigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Since October, Good Law Project lawyers and journalists heard from dozens of women about why they want the ponds to remain trans-inclusive. This has included women who swim there every day of the year \u2013 rain or shine \u2013 and women who have been frequenting the ponds since they were children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>It\u2019s not a problem. Other people are creating a problem, inflaming it and deciding that there is a problem<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Ruthie Petrie, 84, is a lesbian feminist who has been coming to the ponds since the 70s and has swam there almost every day for the past 15 years. She said she has always agreed with openness, dignity and respect towards \u201cpeople\u2019s chosen sexuality and gender and self-presentation [\u2026] there\u2019s never been, for me, a question of hiving off trans women as though somehow this was completely unacceptable to society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a witness statement gathered by Good Law Project, a woman who was a lifeguard in 2019 recounted how a small group used to repeatedly approach her and claim that a trans woman was behaving inappropriately in the changing room. \u201cBut often another lifeguard would have been in the changing room at the same time and confirmed that nothing like that had happened \u2013 it was completely invented,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When we reached out to Sex Matters, they offered no evidence that they were advancing the views of anything more than a minority. They did not respond to the overwhelming majority of pond users in the City of London\u2019s consultation who said they wanted the ponds to remain trans inclusive. They also said nothing about their plans for the \u00a365,000 they raised in the hope of challenging the corporation\u2019s existing policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They did insist that the testimonies they shared came from women \u201cwho swim regularly at the ponds\u201d, citing one witness who recalled a feeling of \u201cnot being safe\u201d. <\/span><span>This person recalled an encounter with someone in the changing rooms who they seem to have thought was trans. The witness said she felt \u201ctrapped\u201d because she was naked and this person was standing between her and her towel. She also felt her \u201cprivacy was badly violated\u201d and interpreted the other person\u2019s behaviour as \u201c<\/span><span>demeaning, abusive, aggressive and intimidating\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But for Ruth Hallgarten, 52, who Good Law Project spoke to during the celebration of the winter solstice at the ponds, the issues raised by such groups are \u201cnot a problem\u201d. \u201cOther people are creating a problem,\u201d Ruth says, \u201cinflaming it and deciding that there is a problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The scene at the celebration is idyllic \u2013 the deck has been adorned with branches and flowers, and swimmers ring a bell and make a wish before entering the icy water. Once out, women hand out hot drinks and homemade cakes. It\u2019s not hard to see why the Ladies\u2019 Pond, which marks its centenary this year, is a sacred space for \u00a0somany \u2013 a lifeline for women in mental crises, pregnant women, religious women who do not feel comfortable swimming in mixed spaces \u2013 and even women who have experienced homelessness. It is a lifeline they never want to be taken away from trans women.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Mary Powell, 54, became a regular winter swimmer at the p about 15 years ago. Despite coming from a different class background to some of the women \u2013 some of whom she remembers were \u201cvery posh\u201d \u2013 Mary says she still felt welcomed into the group. <\/span><span>As a trade unionist, Mary said she had long understood to respect people\u2019s gender identity thanks to the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act. She also had a trans colleague in the 90s. \u201cThis was at a Catholic organisation. The nuns didn\u2019t seem bothered. They were tough old nuns who\u2019d seen it all, and they just shrugged and got on with their jobs.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>Mary also mentions two Orthodox Jewish women who are regular pond swimmers, who \u201care not happy being used as a sort of emblem for the gender-critical brigade.\u201d She remembers one of them standing up at the AGM in 2024 and telling the anti-trans activists: \u201cYou don\u2019t speak for me.\u201d But she was heckled. <\/span><span>At another point in the meeting, an anti-trans activist stood on a chair shouting while another took a video of her \u2013 despite the Association having previously agreed that there would be no filming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At the pond itself, women have also been made to feel unsafe by anti-trans activists. Mary remembers some \u201cstanding at the gate, looking up and down at anybody that came in to decide if they were sufficiently woman enough.\u201d <\/span><span>This was \u201cself-defeating,\u201d explains Mary, because not only did it go against everything the pond\u00a0 stands for \u2013 which accepts women of all shapes and sizes \u2013 but it resulted in male police officers entering the space.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>You can bring your sadness and you can bring your pain, and the Pond erases that<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>In an official comment sent to Good Law Project, Kenwood Ladies\u2019 Pond Association said that they are \u201crelieved\u201d that Sex Matters case has been halted, describing it as a \u201cproxy political battle.\u201d They also referred to the 2024 AGM in which they said there was \u201can attempt by a group of gender-critical activists, who were not known to be keen swimmers, to try to take over the association.\u201d They added that any swimmer who is made to feel unsafe is \u201cstrongly encouraged to approach the staff on duty for support,\u201d and that \u201cwe believe many of our members would simply like to be left to swim in peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPeople\u2019s identity and wellbeing is tied to nature in ways that are deeply embodied. Exclusion from these landscapes and spaces doesn\u2019t just close doors, it fractures our sense of belonging in the world,\u201d says Lenny Rajmont, trans architect and founder of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.queerscapes.com\/\"><span>Queerscapes<\/span><\/a><span>. <\/span><span>While Rajmont welcomes last week\u2019s setback for Sex Matters, he describes the broader rollback of rights we are seeing as \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d \u2013 for example, the impact Girlguiding\u2019s new policy will have on trans girls\u2019 access to nature and outdoor programmes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSwimming access already has stark inequalities across socio-economic and ethnic minority communities,\u201d he adds, warning that \u201clayering on trans exclusion fundamentally contradicts what we know about nature\u2019s necessity for human health and survival.\u201d<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>For Beth, defending inclusivity at the onds took its toll on her mental health, to the point she was struggling to eat and sleep. \u201cBut when I wanted to walk away, I thought, God \u2013 I have a nice privilege that I can walk away. But for trans people, they can\u2019t walk away from the bullying and violence.\u201d And so she kept going, seeking solace in the nature and community that defines the Ladies\u2019 Pond.<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span><br \/><\/span><span>\u201cThis sounds silly, but in the water I\u2019ll often say gratitude for all the women who\u2019ve swam here before, and all of their strengths, whatever they have gone through, like cancer, divorces, deaths,\u201d says Beth, as we near the end of our chat at the pond\u2019s side, its resident fox meandering just a metre away from us. <\/span><span>\u201cYou can bring your sadness and you can bring your pain, and the pond erases that. And you can harness the collective strength of the women who\u2019ve swum over the years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span>This story was published in collaboration with Good Law Project, a non-profit<\/span><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/goodlaw.social\/glpdazed\"><em><span> powered by people across the UK<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span> to resist hate and bring hope.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69529\/1\/the-women-fighting-for-trans-inclusion-at-hampstead-heath-ponds-sex-matters&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1024\/0-0-1024-682\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436091.jpg&#8221;] Photography Tolga Akmen\/AFP via Getty Images February\u00a0 5,\u00a0 2026 Life &amp; Culture \/ Feature Life &amp; Culture \/ Feature The women fighting for trans inclusion at Hampstead ponds The High Court has rejected a legal challenge attempting to ban trans people from Hampstead Heath\u2019s single-sex ponds. Good Law Project speaks to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1752910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1752910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1752910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1752910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1752910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1752910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1752910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}