The federal court has upheld a landmark decision that found a women-only social media app and its founder unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle after the transgender woman was denied access to the platform.
In their judgment on Friday, justices Melissa Perry, Wendy Abraham and Geoffrey Kennett affirmed an August 2024 finding that Tickle was discriminated against on the basis of her gender identity, and also sided with Tickle’s cross appeal, claiming she experienced two instances of direct discrimination by the Giggle for Girls app and its founder Sall Grover.
The court found Tickle was directly discriminated against twice, when she was excluded from accessing the Giggle app on the basis of her gender-related appearance, and second, when her readmission to the app was refused. The full bench awarded Tickle damages of $20,000, double the amount initially awarded, and ordered Giggle and Grover to pay her costs of up to $100,000.
Tickle, from regional New South Wales, had her access to the app blocked in 2021 after she uploaded a selfie of her face as part of its registration process. The judges agreed discrimination against Tickle on the grounds of her gender identity was contrary to section 22 of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 when read with section 51B of the same act.
Outside court, Tickle said that she took legal action to show “trans people that you can be brave and that you can stand up for yourself”. The lawsuit was first filed in December 2022 and is the first gender identity discrimination case to reach the federal court.
