Men don't belong in Hampstead Ladies' Pond

The waters of Hampstead ladies’ pond are this week, it seems, more troubled than ever. Last Sunday, amidst cries of ‘traitor’ and ‘shame on you’, the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond Association (KLPA) voted against barring transwomen from using it. As a result, this unique bathing site, billed as providing ‘a place of refuge and security for women and girls of all ages,’ would now appear to be suffering from terminal mission creep.

This row was triggered by a controversial official decision in 2019 to allow transwomen to swim at the pond. Many regulars were furious and some gender-critical activists like Venice Allen and Maya Forstater vowed to return it to its women-only status.

Something of priceless, almost mystical value to its users – the country’s only all-women bathing site – has been lost

Venice Allen, attending this weekend’s meeting, was coruscating. Accusing the KLPA of creating a ‘fantasy porn set’ for ‘perverted men’ and ‘their erections’, she warned: ‘When the inevitable happens, as a result of your trans inclusive policy, that the majority of women, and, so I’m told, two men, have voted for today, and one of these men, that you’re so inclusive of, attack or rape a woman or girl, I want you to remember that you voted for that.