Swiss city apologises to trans woman after police throw her out of female-only nudist bathing area

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:07, 30 June 2026 | Updated: 16:11, 30 June 2026 A Swiss city has apologised to a transgender woman after six of its police officers threw her out of a female-only nudist bathing area.  The woman, according to her friend, was 'tackled to the ground' by six officers in the city of Bern at around 5.30pm on Sunday in the women-only nudist area of the Marzili swimming pool.  She was then handcuffed and taken to a police station for questioning, before later being released, reported Swiss newspaper 20 Minutes.   Several female swimmers had reportedly complained about the trans woman's presence at the site to staff, who requested she leave multiple times to no avail.  Police said that when they arrived, several people showed their support for her and got involved in the removal, leading to a cop getting injured.  According to a relative of the woman, who was at the pool at the time of the incident, police refused to engage in any dialogue and adopted an 'intimidating' attitude.  '[The trans woman] suffered several significant bruises', she said.  Following the incident, many Swiss LGBTQ+ organisations erupted in fury at the decision to remove the woman.  The incident happened in the women-only nudist area of the Marzili swimming pool The city of Bern apologised for its officers' actions at the pool (pictured) Transgender Network Switzerland (TGNS), the Lesbian Organisation of Switzerland and Pride Cross denounced the 'shameful' incident that took place during Pride month.  They called for more training for the pool's staff and police to prevent this from happening again.   Following the pressure, the city of Bern admitted it made a mistake by removing the woman and apologised to her.  It said that escalating tensions on Sunday resulted in the detainment.  It added that the trans woman did have the right to be in the naturist area and that in cases of doubt, the officially registered sex should be the deciding factor.  It comes as London's Hampstead Heath Ladies’ Pond is facing legal action for allegedly failing to ban transgender women despite the landmark Supreme Court gender ruling. The famed women-only bathing spot has maintained its trans-inclusive policy pending a ‘review’ in spite of the UK’s highest court ruling in April that trans women are not legally female. Women’s rights campaigners sent a legal letter to the City of London Corporation, which manages the ponds, last week warning they intend to bring a legal challenge unless the policy is revoked with 'immediate effect’. The Kenwood Ladies' Pond opened in 1925 and is the sole women-only freshwater swimming pool in the country. There is also a men-only pond and a mixed-sex pond. The legal letter, seen by the Mail, says that the current policy ‘violates the dignity of women using the Ladies’ Pond’ and that the Corporation is ‘operating it unlawfully by allowing trans identifying males to access it’.  It adds: ‘The policy has the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for many women users of the Ladies’ Pond.’ Women have been left feeling uncomfortable using the Ladies’ Pond and some no longer feel it is ‘a safe space to bring their daughters’ due to continued use by trans women, the letter claims. It adds that some women have ‘been subjected to trans identifying men being naked in the changing area and showers’ while others have allegedly ‘experienced trans identifying men taking photographs of women and girls’. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.