Amy Desir with the men’s shorts she wore to the pool

Male swimmers at a south London leisure centre were startled last week when a topless woman in a pink floral swimming cap jumped into the pool at a men-only session and swam a couple of lengths.

It turned out to be part of a campaign against proposed legislation that would allow men and women to choose their own gender.

Campaigners concerned that proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act will allow predatory men to masquerade as females in order to abuse women have come up with a novel tactic. They are pretending to be men to illustrate the problems inherent in transgender legislation.

Amy Desir, 30, a mother of two, went for a topless swim with another female activist at a men-only session at the