Female-only spaces for biological women must be protected by law because lesbians face unwanted pressure to have sex with trans women, says group supporting Giggle app founder Sall Grover.
In a rare move, the court has granted the Melbourne-based Lesbian Action Group “intervener” status in Ms Grover’s appeal against the ruling last year that she unlawfully discriminated against transgender woman Roxanne Tickle by rejecting her from the networking app because she was a biological man.
The Lesbian Action Group argues that biological women have a right under the Sex Discrimination Act to their own safe spaces, stating in a submission obtained by The Australian that “it is now commonplace for lesbians to be pressured into having sex with transwomen, and to face risk of social isolation if they do not agree with that very concept.”
The intervention pits the long-established lesbian group not just against Tickle but against Sex Discrimination Commissioner Anna Cody who has also been granted amicus curiae (friend of the court) status in the case.
The commissioner says she is simply “seeking to assist the court by providing submissions about the meaning, scope and validity of relevant provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act and that she “has not made submissions about whether Ms Tickle was in fact discriminated against”.
The Australian Human Rights Commission estimates it will have spent about $35,000 briefing barristers to represent the Sex Discrimination Commissioner by the end of the current appeal.
The Lesbian Action Group was granted amicus status because it has an interest in the outcome of the case after seeking an exemption from the Sex Discrimination Act in 2023 to hold regular “lesbians born female only” social events.
“It is the lived experience of lesbians to be confronted by autogynephilic men (those who become sexually aroused by the idea of themselves as women) seeking lesbian attention, as a means of generating sexual gratification for themselves.
“It is now commonplace for lesbians to be pressured into having sex with transwomen, and to face risk of social isolation if they do not agree with that very concept. This is unacceptable.
“The appeal must proceed on the basis that the Giggle app is intended to be used by women (members of the female sex) to the exclusion of Ms Tickle (a member of the male sex).
The conclusion that a biological man who identifies as a woman is a “woman” under the act has “innumerable unintended consequences”, the group’s submission claims.
Among them: that biological boys must be admitted into all-girl schools; that biological men must be admitted into domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centres; that intimate body searches of women can be performed by biological men; and that biological boys are to reside in the girls’ dormitory at school.
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