A transgender woman has won her case alleging she was discriminated against when she was booted from an app described as a safe space for women only. In the amusingly named Tickle vs. Giggle case, Australia's Federal Court found Roxanne Tickle was a victim of indirect discrimination, "when an unreasonable rule or policy applies to everyone but has the effect of disadvantaging some people because of a personal characteristic they share," according to the Australian Human Rights Commission. It's a landmark gender identity ruling whose effect is likely to be felt far beyond Australia, the BBC reports.
Born male, Tickle has been living as a woman since 2017. She underwent gender affirmation surgery and joined the women-only Giggle for Girls app in 2021 after uploading a selfie to be analyzed by gender recognition software. Seven months later, she was kicked out. Tickle claimed she was discriminated against based on gender identity. She said "persistent misgendering" by the app and its CEO Sall Grover had prompted "constant anxiety and occasional suicidal thoughts." She also accused Grover—a self-described trans-exclusionary radical feminist, who believes one's sex does not change—of berating her in public, leading to online abuse.
Giggle's lawyers argued Tickle was discriminated against on the grounds of sex, but that Australia's ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) allowed for the protection of single-sex spaces, like the one Grover created in response to social media abuse from men. Justice Robert Bromwich ruled Friday in Tickle's favor, saying court cases dating back 30 years established "that in its ordinary meaning, sex is changeable." This will be "significant" for all 189 countries that have ratified CEDAW as national courts often look to other countries' efforts when interpreting international treaties, the BBC reports.
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"The ruling shows that all women are protected from discrimination," Tickle said outside the court. "I hope it is healing for trans and gender diverse people." She'd sought $135,000 in damages but was awarded $6,700. The app no longer exists, the Guardian reports. Grover has vowed to appeal all the way up to the High Court if necessary. "We are taking a stand for the safety of all women's only spaces, but also for basic reality and truth, which the law should reflect," she said. (More gender identity stories.)
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