Judge awards transgender woman victory over women-only app in landmark case

A judge in Australia ruled on Friday that the owner of a women-only social media platform discriminated against a transgender person by removing him from the app because he was born a male.

Reuters reported that Roxanne Tickle is suing Australian app Giggle for Girls and its founder, Sally Grover, for unlawful discrimination on the basis of gender identity in its services.

The lawsuit alleged that Grover deleted Tickle’s account from the platform after she saw her photo and “identified her as a male.”

In a landmark ruling on gender identity issues in Australia, the Federal Court – considered the second most important court in the country – ordered Giggle for Girls to pay Tickle A$10,000 ($6,700) plus legal costs.

Judge Robert Bromwich, who oversaw the trial, did not order Giggle for Girls to produce a written apology as Tickle had requested.

“Tickle’s claim of direct sex discrimination is off the mark, but her claim of indirect sex discrimination is on the mark,” Bromwich said.

This is the first time the Federal Court of Australia has issued a ruling on gender identity discrimination since the Sex Discrimination Act was amended in 2013.

Professor Paula Gerber from Monash University’s Faculty of Law said the court’s decision was a “major victory for transgender women in Australia”.

“This case sends a clear message to all Australians that it is against the law to treat transgender women differently to cisgender women. It is against the law to make a decision about whether someone is a woman based on how feminine they look,” she said.

Giggle for Girls was advertised as a “safe space” where women could share and discuss their experiences.

Reuters reported that court documents show the platform had about 20,000 users in 2021.

The company has temporarily halted operations in 2022, but Grover says the platform will be relaunched soon.

In his decision, the judge said the platform only recognises a child’s gender as a valid basis for considering a person a man or a woman.

Bromwich said the plaintiff was born male and underwent gender reassignment surgery before Tickle’s birth certificate was updated.

“Unfortunately, we got what we expected,” Grover said in a post on X.

“The fight for women’s rights continues.”

Tickle called the judge’s decision “healing,” according to sources, after she began receiving hateful comments online and saw promotional materials designed specifically to mock her.

“There is so much hate and bile directed at transgender and gender nonconforming people simply because of who we are,” Australian media quoted her as saying in court.

Reuters contributed to this report.