Overview

• Around 30 women’s rights campaigners, wearing false beards and moustaches, protested at Highgate Men’s Pond on May 5, claiming to self-identify as male to gain entry.
• Protesters criticized the City of London Corporation’s decision to maintain its gender self-ID policy at single-sex bathing ponds, despite the Supreme Court ruling defining women by biological sex.
• Security guards and police locked the gates to the men’s pond to prevent protesters from entering, though some managed to breach the barriers and swim briefly.
• The City of London Corporation has instructed staff at the ponds not to discuss the Supreme Court ruling or the policy with visitors, directing them to refer inquiries to senior management or the press office.
• Legal experts warn that labeling the ponds as ‘men’s’ and ‘ladies’’ while allowing trans-inclusive access could expose the Corporation to discrimination claims.