The ponds have been at the centre of debate around single-sex spaces (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)A charity has been blocked from challenging rules allowing trans people to use single-sex facilities in Hampstead Heath’s swimming ponds. A High Court judge dismissed the legal challenge brought by gender-critical charity Sex Matters against the City of London, which operates the men’s, ladies’ and mixed bathing ponds in north London. The barristers for Sex Matters told a hearing in December that the policy of allowing trans people to use facilities which matched their gender identity was sex discrimination. In a ruling throwing out the legal action on Thursday, Mrs Justice Lieven said that the ‘appropriate forum’ for the claim was the county court, rather than the High Court. Reacting to the High Court Verdict, the chief executive of Sex Matters, Maya Forstater, said: ‘The fight for women’s safety, privacy and dignity in single-sex spaces will continue.

Source: Daily Mail January 29, 2026 13:37 UTC