Update from Maya
Maya with Professor Jo Phoenix at the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond
Even though the memo has been on holiday, I haven’t been. One of the things I have been working on is Sex Matters’ case against the City of London about the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond and Highgate Men’s Pond, two of the best-known single-sex services in the country.
The case will be heard in the High Court on 3rd and 4th November. Part of the City’s defence is that “trans inclusion” has been the rule since at least 2017. Before the Supreme Court put a stop to it, the City used to tell everyone that “trans inclusion” was required by the Equality Act, but it now admits that that was a misinterpretation of the law.
So I have spent a few lovely mornings swimming around in the dark, murky waters of the Ladies’ Pond – and several days delving into the records of the City’s even murkier decision-making, as well as looking back at the stories of some of the women who dived in headfirst to challenge it in creative ways.
You can read about what happened in 2017 and since on our website. It involves Edward Lord, a non-binary activist and city councillor; Gendered Intelligence; trans-identifying man Jane Fae of TransActual; Stonewall; several City of London committees, journalist Andrew Gilligan; the Sunday Times; IPSO, the press regulator; and indefatigable activists including Julia Long, Venice Allan, Janice Williams and an anonymous Mumsnetter who went undercover to a TRA conference – oh, and a lime-green mankini.
Our hearing has been a long time coming. We have argued that it is in the public interest for everyone to have clarity about the law, while the City has tried everything to stop the core question being answered by the court. It argued that our legal challenge was both “too early” (because it was carrying out an irrelevant consultation) and “too late” (because the initial decision to allow men into the Ladies’ Pond was made years ago). And if there was any case to answer, it argued, it was for individual women to bring personal claims, not for Sex Matters to challenge the policy itself.
Initially, the court agreed that we should not be granted permission. In November the decision to refuse us permission was overturned, meaning we were finally set to ask the High Court to rule definitively on whether any version of the City of London’s “trans inclusive” rules at the Hampstead Ponds is lawful.
Swimming in circles around a cold, dark pond where you can’t put your foot down to rest, and you don’t like to think what is at the bottom, is not for everyone. But this is more than a battle for a tiny oasis for a few hardy women in North London; the City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile, London’s financial centre, and is hugely influential. It is frightening just how easily its decision-making was captured, and how much work it has taken by so many women to get even this far towards winning it back.
Thank you to everyone who has spoken up about the ponds, and who continues to support our work on this case. We hope to see some of you in court!
Women in Northern Ireland speak up
What a cancelled panel says about the discussion on women’s rights
In this week’s podcast, Fiona, Maya and Helen discuss the cancellation of a panel organised by Women’s Rights Network Northern Ireland at the Féile an Phobail arts festival in Belfast.
They discuss how the event was successfully relocated, drawing greater public attention, and what the controversy reveals about the challenges facing gender-critical women.
They also examine media coverage of sex and gender issues, including recent updates to BBC reporting guidance and the frustrating way that even when gender-critical women are invited on broadcast shows, the discussion often stalls at disputes over “preferred pronouns” rather than progressing to substantive issues of women’s rights.
Watch the full panel discussion or read about it on our website.
In other news
Green fury after transgender woman appointed to party’s governing body as ‘female representative’
“Sex matters in politics, particularly when it comes to the representation of women. It’s completely inappropriate for a man who says he is a woman to take a female place in the Green Party’s leadership team in the east of... - Fiona McAnena
Fintan Starkey • GB News
Unions pledge to resist EHRC guidance on single-sex spaces
“The mad rush by unions to prioritise the feelings of trans-identifying men over the rights of women to safety and dignity in the workplace is a shocking scandal. Many of them have failed female members in their hour of need,... - Fiona McAnena
Bill Curtis • The Times
The British institutions defying the Supreme Court’s trans ruling
“That the City of London is willing to put its own reputation and respectability on the line rather than comply with a clear and simple law, and point people who don’t want a single-sex swim to the mixed pond, shows... - Maya Forstater
Jill Foster • The Telegraph
Ministers accused of ‘passing the buck’ over rebellious councils breaking toilet rules
“The Minister in charge of the department should not try to pass the buck to the EHRC in tackling councils that plan to make a mockery of the law.” - Maya Forstater
Sophia Sleigh • The Sun
Amnesty claims against Sex Matters ‘no isolated error’
“We hope that Amnesty will take responsibility for what is not simply a rogue briefing but a frequently and strongly expressed institutional view”. - Maya Forstater
Sanchez Manning • The Times
City giants tighten trans policies
Ali Lyon for City AM follows up on our Sex-based rights in the City report on the financial sector’s compliance failure, revealing that several major city firms have updated their policies on single-sex facilities since we published in May.
Ali Lyon • City AM
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