A transgender woman was awarded $10,000 after a judge found she had been indirectly discriminated against when she was barred from a female-only social media app in a case billed as a landmark test of trans rights law in Australia.
The Federal Court found that Roxanne Tickle had not been directly discriminated against but had been the victim of indirect discrimination and ordered the app – Giggle for Girls – to pay her $10,000 plus legal costs.
Paula Gerber, Professor of Human Rights Law at Monash University, said the finding was a huge victory for transgender women.
She said the case sent a clear message to all Australians that it is not lawful to make decisions about whether a person is a woman based on how feminine they appear.
“The judge made it very clear that it is a breach of the Sex Discrimination Act to treat transgender women differently from cisgender women. So that’s a great victory,” Gerber said.
“It has really put a spotlight on the discrimination and the exclusion that they face and has sent a message that people who do this are going to pay a price.”
Anna Kerr, principal solicitor from Feminist Legal Clinic, said she was disappointed but not surprised by the ruling.
“Unfortunately, legislation and case law conflating gender identity with biological sex have effectively undermined the ability for women to have any spaces or services free of males,” Kerr said.
“The hard-fought rights and gains of the women’s liberation movement are being rapidly dismantled by decisions such as this, leaving women and children vulnerable in many contexts, including in services supporting victims of sexual and domestic violence, women’s prisons, public toilets and change rooms and in women’s sport.”
What a farce it’s a tragedy…men do not belong in protected women’s’ spaces