Judge rules in groundbreaking case against transgender woman against app for women only

A judge in Australia ruled on Friday that the owner of a women-only social networking platform discriminated against a transgender woman by removing her from the app on the grounds that she was born male.

Reuters reported that Roxanne Tickle sued the Australian app Giggle for Girls and its founder Sally Grover for illegal discrimination based on gender identity in their services.

The lawsuit states that Grover removed Tickle's account from the platform after seeing her photo and “mistaking her for a man.”

In a landmark ruling on gender identity in Australia, the Federal Court – considered the country's second highest court – ordered Giggle for Girls to pay Tickle 10,000 Australian dollars (US$6,700) plus legal costs.

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

“Tickle’s claim of direct discrimination based on gender identity fails, but her claim of indirect discrimination based on gender identity succeeds,” Bromwich said.

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

Professor Paula Gerber of Monash University's law school said the court's decision was “a major victory for transgender women in Australia”.

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Transgender woman Roxanne Tickle leaves the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney on Friday. (AAP/Dean Lewins via REUTERS)

“This case sends a clear message to all Australians that it is unlawful to treat transgender women differently from cisgender women. It is not lawful to make decisions about whether a person is a woman based on how feminine they look,” she said.

The platform Giggle for Girls was marketed as a “safe place” where women could share and discuss their experiences. Reuters reported that according to court documents, the platform had about 20,000 users in 2021.

The company has temporarily suspended operations in 2022, but Grover says the platform will relaunch soon.

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A judge in Australia ruled on Friday that the owner of a women-only social networking platform discriminated against a transgender woman. (iStock)

In his decision, the judge claimed that the platform only considers gender at birth as a valid basis for a person to claim to be a man or a woman.

The plaintiff was born a boy and underwent gender reassignment surgery before Tickle's birth certificate was updated, Bromwich said.

“Unfortunately, we have the [judgment] we expected,” Grover said in a post on X. “The fight for women's rights continues.”

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Tickle reportedly called the judge's decision “salutary” after receiving hate comments online and seeing merchandise made specifically to mock her.

“There is so much hatred and bile against trans and gender diverse people simply because we are who we are,” Australian media quoted her as saying outside court.

Reuters contributed to this report.