A transgender woman has won a discrimination case in an Australian court after being removed from a female-only social networking app.
Roxanne Tickle, a resident of New South Wales, was blocked from the platform Giggle for Girls in 2021. She filed a complaint with the Federal Court of Australia, alleging that the app's founder, Sally Grover, personally intervened to remove her based on the perception that her profile photo appeared to be that of a man.
The court heard that Ms Tickle's account was initially flagged by an AI system. Ms Tickle, who has been living as a woman since 2017 and underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2019, initiated legal proceedings in 2022.
She is officially recognised as a woman in the Queensland Register.
The Federal Court of Australia found on Friday that she was subjected to "indirect gender discrimination" in being blocked, Sky News reported.
Judge Robert Bromwich ruled that she was not directly discriminated against; she was blocked as the app states she should "have the appearance of a cisgender woman".
He said: "Ms Grover made clear in cross-examination that she does not differentiate between people who were assigned male at birth, even if they have since transitioned to become transgender women, stating 'they're male people'.”
He added that Ms Grover had laughed at evidence and arguments around Ms Tickle’s gender.
"Her explanation, that it was funny in the context of the courtroom, was obviously disingenuous," he said, according to Sky.
"It was offensive and belittling, and had no legitimate place in the respondents prosecuting their case."
Giggle for Girls was ordered to pay Ms Tickle 10,000 Australian Dollars (£5,142) and it marks the first time the Federal Court made a ruling under the Sex Discrimination Act 2013.
Ms Tickle said she felt the verdict was “healing”.
Outside the court, she added: "There is so much hate and bile cast on trans and gender diverse people simply because of who we are."
Ms Grover tweeted afterwards: “Unfortunately, we got the judgement we anticipated.
“The fight for women’s rights continues.”
Ms Grover has now also launched a fundraiser to appeal the decision.
She added: “The sun will rise tomorrow and men still will not be women.”
