Transgender woman wins landmark case against social media app as court defines sex as changeable

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The exclusion of a transgender woman from a female-only social media app was unlawful, according to an Australian court’s landmark ruling that is likely to have far wider ramifications in the space of trans rights.

Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman from New South Wales, found that her account on the Giggle for Girls social media app was restricted after seven months even though she was initially accepted. Ms Tickle sued the platform and its CEO Sall Grover for discrimination.

Federal Court Justice Robert Bromwich stated on Friday that the respondents had defined “sex” as the unchangeable sex assigned at birth. Although Justice Bromwich found Ms Tickle wasn’t subjected to direct discrimination, he upheld the claim of indirect discrimination because the Giggle for Girls app required her to appear as a cisgender woman to use it.

He ordered the app to pay her £5,100 in addition to costs.

“These arguments failed because the view propounded by the respondents conflicted with a long history of cases decided by courts going back over 30 years. Those … cases established that on its ordinary meaning sex is changeable,” he said.

Ms Tickle told the court that she has lived as a woman since 2017 and had her birth certificate reissued in 2018 to reflect the name and gender change. She underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2019.

“Up until this instance, everybody has treated me as a woman,” she said.

The case was significant as it was the first to address discrimination based on gender identity under the scope of the country’s Sex Discrimination Act. The case had sparked a debate in the country on what constitutes a woman under Australian law, and whether sex is binary.

The app’s CEO, Ms Grover, however, denied any discriminatory conduct. Her lawyers cited an exception in the sex discrimination law, arguing that the app intended to promote substantive equality between men and women.

Ms Tickle had joined Giggle for Girls in February 2021 and had her access revoked in September of the same year.

Ms Tickle’s counsel, Georgina Costello KC, argued that sex and gender are not binary and involve psychological and social dimensions, not just biological ones.

On the other hand, Ms Grover’s lawyer, Bridie Nolan, argued that sex is biological and gender was a social construct, disputing that Ms Tickle had the “psychology of a woman”, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

After the verdict, Ms Tickle told reporters that the case had “stolen” three years of her life. “There is so much hate and bile cast on trans and gender diverse people simply because of who we are.”

“Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that not all people are like that.

“The ruling shows that all women are protected from discrimination.

“I brought my case to show trans people that you can be brave and that you can stand up for yourself,” she said.