The High Court has refused Giggle for Girls app founder Sall Grover special leave to appeal the case brought against her by transwoman Roxanne Tickle, meaning that without new legislation, Australian law is now set in stone: men can become women, and sex is not purely biological.
Ms Grover had been seeking to overturn a finding by the Federal Court that she directly discriminated against Ms Tickle on the basis of her “gender identity” when she barred the transwoman from the female-only networking Giggle app.
However the High Court announced on Thursday that it was refusing special leave to appeal, with costs awarded against Ms Grover.
The court had been expected to accept the case, which raised fundamental questions about the legal rights of women and transgender people.
In a two-sentence explanation of its decision, the High Court said: “There is no reason to doubt the Full Court’s construction of s. 7D (1) and (2) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). Any appeal dependent on the demonstration of error in the Full Court’s construction of those provisions has insufficient prospects of success to warrant a grant of special leave to appeal.”
Ms Grover told The Australian she was “absolutely devastated” by the decision.
Source: High Court rejects gender appeal, deals blow to Sall Grover | The Australian