The Ladies’ Pond

• GREEN Party councillor Siân Berry of Highgate ward described a women’s action to keep the Ladies’ Pond at Hampstead “female only”, in line with the single sex provisions in the Equality Act, as “transphobic”, not deserving of her “attention or amplification”, and not reflective of the “loving and inclusive values of the people in Camden”.

I am happy transgender people are protected against discrimination and harassment on the basis of the gender reassignment protected characteristic under UK law, and I think it’s great Cllr Berry is such a strong advocate for trans people; but women have rights as well (to privacy, dignity and safety) and this is recognised in the single sex exemptions, under schedule 3 of the 2010 Equality Act (which Cllr Berry would do well to read).

An “inclusive” councillor should listen to all views in Camden, and not just one niche group. Cllr Berry’s approach to the sex and gender debate risks being seen as discriminatory and not in accordance with Nolan principles of objectivity, honesty and integrity.

Recent court cases have shown that gender critical beliefs that sex is immutable and binary are not of themselves bigoted or transphobic. The Employment Appeal Tribunal comment in Maya Forstater’s case, held that “most fundamentally, the claimant’s belief does not get anywhere near to approaching the kind of belief akin to Nazism or totalitarianism” and “is not, on any view, a statement of a belief that seeks to destroy the rights of trans persons”.

We in Camden need to be careful as a borough not to remove the voice of women who speak out when women’s spaces are threatened / invaded / violated.

Among the ladies who spoke out in favour of keeping the Ladies’ Pond “female-only” at the event on Hampstead Heath on Saturday were Muslim voices, black voices, young and old voices. Is Cllr Berry happy to exclude these women from Camden life and activities, because of her ideological beliefs?

Democracy dies in darkness and, as the recent events of the Tavistock have shown, the airing of diverse views is a vital and necessary safeguard to uphold the vibrancy and efficiency of Camden.

Hampstead has three ponds: men’s, ladies’ and mixed. As a recent supreme court judgment in Scotland, in regards to the Equality Act, noted: s212 defines a woman as “a female of any age”, and subsuming male transsexuals living as women into the definition of “woman” conflates and confuses two separate and distinct protected characteristics.

Provisions in favour of women (in contexts such as the Ladies’ Pond), by definition in law, “exclude those who are biologically male”.

Cllr Berry is entitled to her views, and I am aware the sex and gender debate is a tense and complex area, but it remains the law of the land that sex is binary and immutable.

To stifle gender critical voices (which are legally protected under the Equality Act) is to discriminate against women with such views.

Camden borough is, and should be, better than this, with our proud history of political engagement and a paper, the CNJ, which prides itself on holding the council administration to account, and is offering a letters forum for issues to be discussed.

In a diverse society such as the UK, and in particularly Camden, the values and rights of different groups will routinely collide.

The measure of civilised coexistence is that we find ways of negotiating these collisions and look for solutions, not grant succour to those who would wish to see views that they do not agree with stifled.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED, WC1