[Australia] ‘Online refuge’ for women sued in landmark Tickle v Giggle case

In Australia, Giggle for Girls - an app created to be an “online refuge” for women - is facing allegations of gender identity discrimination, in a landmark court case poised to test the meaning and scope of the Sex Discrimination Act, The Guardian reports.

Roxanne Tickle - a New South Wales transgender woman - is suing the women-only social media platform after being blocked from using it.

Ms Tickle filed a lawsuit in December 2022, claiming she was unlawfully blocked from using the app in September 2021 after Giggle and its CEO, Sall Grover, said she was a man. Ms Tickle is now seeking damages.

Katherine Deves - representing Ms Tickle - failed to have the case thrown out of court.

The case will set a notable precedent’ as the first time alleged gender identity discrimination is heard by the federal court. It reportedly goes to the heart of how gender identity – and being a woman - is interpreted.

On April 9, federal court justice Robert Bromwich heard that accountant Ms Tickle has ‘lived as a woman’ since 2017, has a birth certificate stating her gender as female, had gender affirmation surgery and “feels in her mind that psychologically she is a woman”.

When asked to detail what “living as a female” meant, Tickle reportedly described taking hormones that changed her body, having gender affirmation surgery and undergoing social transitions.

Tickle stated that she has changed gender markers on government documents, invested time and money in her wardrobe and facial hair removal, used women’s changing rooms and played in a women’s hockey team.

“Up until this instance, everybody has treated me as a woman,” Tickle told the court.

“I do from time to time get frowns and stares and questioning looks which is quite disconcerting … but they’ll let me go about my business.”

Bridie Nolan - Giggle and Ms Grover’s barrister - made it clear that the focus must remain on biological sex.

“Sex is discriminatory, it always has been and always will be … biological sex must prevail,” she said and cited the legislative intention of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women being inserted into the Sex Discrimination Act.

In 2013, changes to the Act made it unlawful under federal law to discriminate against a person on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.

The court heard that Ms Grover started the app after receiving trauma therapy for social media abuse while living in the US.

“It would be a place without harassment, mansplaining, dick pics, stalking, aggression … the vision was to create an online refuge,” Ms Nolan said.

Onboarding to the Giggle app reportedly required the user to upload a selfie, which would be verified as female by KairosAI gender detection software and then a human. This was intended to be an unobtrusive way to verify gender, the court heard.

Ms Tickle reportedly claimed that the software identified her as female in February 2021 but that her membership was later revoked.

The court heard that from its launch, Giggle for Girls was under attack with Ms Grover labelled a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and the platform receiving thousands of applications from men who attempted to join.

In an interview for the 4w blog, Ms Grover said one man made 48 attempts to get past Giggle's verification system. "No means no", she told 4w. "This is what we have been talking about, very loudly in a post #MeToo world."

In a social media post in 2022, Ms Grover reportedly described Tickle as a “trans-identified male” and alleged that Tickle wanted her to be “re-educated”.

The Australian Human Rights Commission - including the sex discrimination commissioner - is acting as a friend of the court, providing submissions about the scope, meaning and validity of the Sex Discrimination Act. Ms Tickle complained about Giggle to the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2021.

Giggle for Girls’ legal costs are being covered by a crowdfunding campaign that had raised $471,300 by the morning of April 9.

Supporters have assembled outside the federal court throughout the hearing, some sporting the colours of suffrage.

The trial is scheduled to run for four days, its live-streaming was reportedly declined following ‘unacceptable online behaviour’ during an interlocutory hearing in April 2023.

Source: The Guardian

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

In Australia, Giggle for Girls - an app created to be an “online refuge” for women - is facing allegations of gender identity discrimination, in a landmark court case poised to test the meaning and scope of the Sex Discrimination Act, The Guardian reports.

Roxanne Tickle - a New South Wales transgender woman - is suing the women-only social media platform after being blocked from using it.

Ms Tickle filed a lawsuit in December 2022, claiming she was unlawfully blocked from using the app in September 2021 after Giggle and its CEO, Sall Grover, said she was a man. Ms Tickle is now seeking damages.

Katherine Deves - representing Ms Tickle - failed to have the case thrown out of court.

The case will set a notable precedent’ as the first time alleged gender identity discrimination is heard by the federal court. It reportedly goes to the heart of how gender identity – and being a woman - is interpreted.

On April 9, federal court justice Robert Bromwich heard that accountant Ms Tickle has ‘lived as a woman’ since 2017, has a birth certificate stating her gender as female, had gender affirmation surgery and “feels in her mind that psychologically she is a woman”.

When asked to detail what “living as a female” meant, Tickle reportedly described taking hormones that changed her body, having gender affirmation surgery and undergoing social transitions.

Tickle stated that she has changed gender markers on government documents, invested time and money in her wardrobe and facial hair removal, used women’s changing rooms and played in a women’s hockey team.

“Up until this instance, everybody has treated me as a woman,” Tickle told the court.

“I do from time to time get frowns and stares and questioning looks which is quite disconcerting … but they’ll let me go about my business.”

Bridie Nolan - Giggle and Ms Grover’s barrister - made it clear that the focus must remain on biological sex.

“Sex is discriminatory, it always has been and always will be … biological sex must prevail,” she said and cited the legislative intention of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women being inserted into the Sex Discrimination Act.

In 2013, changes to the Act made it unlawful under federal law to discriminate against a person on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.

The court heard that Ms Grover started the app after receiving trauma therapy for social media abuse while living in the US.

“It would be a place without harassment, mansplaining, dick pics, stalking, aggression … the vision was to create an online refuge,” Ms Nolan said.

Onboarding to the Giggle app reportedly required the user to upload a selfie, which would be verified as female by KairosAI gender detection software and then a human. This was intended to be an unobtrusive way to verify gender, the court heard.

Ms Tickle reportedly claimed that the software identified her as female in February 2021 but that her membership was later revoked.

The court heard that from its launch, Giggle for Girls was under attack with Ms Grover labelled a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and the platform receiving thousands of applications from men who attempted to join.

In an interview for the 4w blog, Ms Grover said one man made 48 attempts to get past Giggle's verification system. "No means no", she told 4w. "This is what we have been talking about, very loudly in a post #MeToo world."

In a social media post in 2022, Ms Grover reportedly described Tickle as a “trans-identified male” and alleged that Tickle wanted her to be “re-educated”.

The Australian Human Rights Commission - including the sex discrimination commissioner - is acting as a friend of the court, providing submissions about the scope, meaning and validity of the Sex Discrimination Act. Ms Tickle complained about Giggle to the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2021.

Giggle for Girls’ legal costs are being covered by a crowdfunding campaign that had raised $471,300 by the morning of April 9.

Supporters have assembled outside the federal court throughout the hearing, some sporting the colours of suffrage.

The trial is scheduled to run for four days, its live-streaming was reportedly declined following ‘unacceptable online behaviour’ during an interlocutory hearing in April 2023.

Source: The Guardian

(Links and quotes via original reporting)