Judges double down on landmark Giggle v Tickle gender discrimination ruling | A Current Affair

But first, the legal case that's dragged on for four long years.Trans woman Roxanne Tickle taking women's only app Giggle for Girls to court after she was booted off the platform.Today, the final chapter.Or is it?

Go ahead.Sel Grover, minutes after her federal court appeal defeat.

Three judges double down on the original decision.

First thoughts.

How embarrassing for them.

Grover had just waded through a boisterous media pack outside Sydney's federal court, while trans woman Roxy Tickle had the last laugh in the high -profile Tickle versus Giggle case.

The ruling clearly reinforces what the Australian community stands for, that all women are protected from discrimination by law.

Tickle, who was born male and identifies as female, was booted off Grover's women's only self -help app, Giggle for Girls.The stoush mushroomed into an acrimonious ideological debate of trans inclusion versus sex -based rights, peaking in a 2024 landmark federal court case, Tickle versus Gigan.

I brought my case to show trans people that you can be brave and that you can stand up for yourself.

The judge found Tickle was indirectly discriminated against, awarding $10 ,000 in damages.Women's rights advocate Rachel Wong said the ruling set a dangerous precedent.

In practical terms, any man who feels like a woman, says he's a woman, identifies as a woman, can access female -only spaces like bathrooms, changing rooms.

Grover enjoyed far -reaching support, including celibs, author J .K.Rowling and tennis great Martina Navratilova.But the million dollars raised to fund the case came from mum and dads the world over.Three federal court judges not only upheld the original ruling, they found two cases of direct discrimination.Grover now has to pay Tickell another $10 ,000 plus limited court costs.

Do you accept that you've broken Australian law?

No.I mean, I accept that that's what they've said.I think it's nonsense.I think it's absurd.One of the most basic facts about the human species is that there are males and females and you can't switch from one to the other.So to have law that completely turns that upside down and turns acknowledging reality into something unlawful is, I think, embarrassing for anybody who makes such a decision.

You've been found to have discriminated against Roxy because of her looks.

I defy every single Australian citizen to tell me what they see.

Despite the gender reassignment surgery, do you still believe that?

There's no surgery that turns a man into a woman.If a man wants to get that surgery, that's your personal decision.At no point should it ever be me, to be my problem.

During the original court decision and today's appeal outcome, there's been seismic developments.The IOC banned trans women who have gone through male puberty from competing in female Olympic events.Last year, the UK Supreme Court ruled the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, not legal gender recognition.Australia's Sex Discrimination Act does not explicitly define man or woman.

For whatever reason, Australia has decided toonly be the band playing while Titanic sinks, we are now looking like an absolute laughingstock.

The first person you went to was your dad after the result.What has been the personal cost to you?

Well, I got the Australian Human Rights Commission complaint when I was 14 weeks pregnant and next, in just over a month, my daughter will be four.And so this has been in the background of her entire life.And I can't, as a mother, send her out into the world where she cannot say no to a man, no matter how he identifies, that she has to accept a man in her change room if he says he's a woman.

Despite the blow, Sel Grover plans to relaunch her women's -only app.She now plans to move abroad.

Australian law is pushing out Australian -owned businesses that are by women and for women.and some people are going to call that progress.

I now look forward to getting on with the rest of my life in the community that we all know and love.One that embraces freedom and equality for all women.Thank you.