A court in Australia has decided that a transgender woman’s exclusion from a female-only social media network constituted unlawful discrimination against her.
The Federal Court of Australia declared on Friday that Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman from the state of New South Wales, had experienced “indirect gender discrimination” when she was denied access to the Giggle for Girls app in 2021 because she was born a man.
The second-highest court in Australia, the Federal Court, mandated that Giggle for Girls pay Tickle A$10,000 ($6,700) in addition to legal fees.
However, the court rejected Tickle’s request for a written apology from the corporation.
Tickle had also requested a written apology, but the court’s decision did not include a request for one.
According to Bromwich, Giggle for Girls accepted that a person’s gender identity could be derived from their sex at birth alone.
Tickle was given male sex at birth, but in 2018 she had gender-affirming surgery and had her birth certificate altered to reflect her new gender.
“Tickle’s claim of direct gender identity discrimination fails, but her claim of indirect gender identity discrimination succeeds,” Judge Robert Bromwich said.
“This decision is a great win for transgender women in Australia,” said Professor Paula Gerber from Monash University’s Faculty of Law.
“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 appear,” added Gerber.
Tickle, who had gender-affirming surgery in 2019, told Australia’s national network outside court that she hoped the outcome would foster “healing”.
We earlier reported that Polish billionaire Rafal Brzoska and his wife intend to sue Meta for running bogus adverts on Facebook and Instagram carrying false information about them.
