What is a woman? Australian court rules in landmark case
Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman from New South Wales, Australia, has won a discrimination lawsuit against the women-only social media platform Giggle for Girls and its CEO Sall Grover. The federal court awarded Tickle $10,000 plus costs after determining that she had been indirectly discriminated against. However, it declined to order the company to issue a written apology, which Tickle had sought.
Tickle was barred from using the app in 2021
Tickle filed a lawsuit against Giggle for Girls and its CEO, Grover, alleging that she was unlawfully excluded from using the application in 2021. The defendants had argued that "sex" refers to an individual's unchangeable sex at birth. But federal court justice Robert Bromwich rejected this argument, stating it contradicted with numerous court cases over the past three decades that have established that sex can indeed be changed.
The app's onboarding process involved gender verification
Tickle filed the lawsuit in 2022, saying Grover revoked her account after seeing her photo and "considered her to be male." The onboarding process for the application required users to upload a selfie, which was then verified as female by KairosAI gender detection software and subsequently by Grover. Tickle was initially allowed to join the platform but was later barred.
Tickle was excluded because she did not look 'sufficiently female'
Justice Bromwich ruled that Tickle had been indirectly discriminated against because she did not appear "sufficiently female" to use the social media app. At the same time, he clarified that there was no direct evidence to suggest Tickle was excluded from Giggle due to her gender identity, but it remains a possibility. Tickle had sought damages and aggravated damages totaling $200,000, alleging that Grover's persistent misgendering caused her ongoing anxiety and occasional suicidal thoughts.
The case marks a first in Australia's federal court
The case marks the first time that alleged gender identity discrimination has been heard by Australia's federal court. It delves into how gender identity and being a woman are interpreted under law. During the three-day hearing in April, it was revealed that Tickle had lived as a woman since 2017, undergone gender affirmation surgery, and held a female birth certificate. Giggle for Girls halted operations in 2022 but Grover said it will relaunch soon.
