Roxanne Tickle, the transgender woman at the heart of Australia’s closely watched “what is a woman” sex discrimination case, has spoken publicly after the nation’s highest court upheld a ruling in her favour.
The dispute began after Giggle for Girls founder Sall Grover removed Ms Tickle from the women-only networking app in 2021. Ms Grover later sought to overturn a finding that the ban amounted to unlawful discrimination against Ms Tickle.
In May, the Federal Court dismissed Ms Grover’s appeal and doubled Ms Tickle’s compensation to $20,000. The court also directed Ms Grover to cover Ms Tickle’s legal costs, which could reach $100,000.
Ms Grover then took her challenge to the High Court of Australia. On Thursday, the court refused her application for special leave to appeal and ordered that Ms Tickle’s costs be paid.
Following the decision, Ms Tickle reflected on the case, which has attracted intense media attention and sparked wider debate across Australia.
“It’s been nearly five years since I lodged my discrimination complaint. It’s been a relentlessly exhausting time, both physically and emotionally, for me and many others,” she said.
“I hope that yesterday’s High Court special leave refusal provides clarity to the protections in law for transgender and gender diverse people in Australia, and perhaps provides a beacon of light to the rest of the world.
“I wish my trans and gender diverse siblings, as well as their loved ones, much hope and love for their collective futures.
Roxanne Tickle has spoken about the legal fight that drew widespread attention from Australian media and the public.
“May we all learn that just being different is not grounds for you to be ridiculed, attacked, feared or hated, but that instead you are providing a little something extra to the world.
‘Life is not easy. Let’s all be kinder to each other and we might all enjoy it a little more.’
Ms Grover revealed that she intended to leave Australia to set up her business overseas in the wake of the High Court loss, and doubled down on her vow to continue her fight in a Facebook post on Saturday.
‘Thank you to the thousands of people who have sent me a message, email, reply or text of support. I will try to reply to eventually,’ she wrote.
‘But for the moment I just want to say: I’m ok, angry & sad, but ok, and the fight isn’t over.
‘A marathon runner doesn’t give up at kilometer 30, and neither do I. We’re in this together.’
The legal battle has left Australians divided, with many slamming the High Court’s decision.
‘This sets women’s rights back 100 years,’ one wrote.
Ms Grover revealed that she intended to leave the country to set up her business overseas in the wake of the High Court loss
‘That final decision is a sad day for all girls and women in Australia,’ another added.
‘It erases girls and women, by supporting the idea that anyone can be one just because they say they are one.’
Other Aussies threw their support behind Ms Tickle.
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‘Well done Roxy. Trans women have been treated as women by Australian law for decades without issue,’ one wrote.
‘The only thing new is the scale of the highly funded and co-ordinated US Christian lobby-funded campaign to spread misinformation and strip trans people of their legal rights.’
‘Good on you Roxanne! So many of us are on your side!’ a second chimed in.
Ms Grover, who conceded there were no more legal avenues available for her to pursue, told the Daily Mail that she wanted to leave the country ‘because I will never forgive the government and I have no respect for the judiciary’.
‘I won’t live under an authoritarian nonsense ideology.
During the drawn-out case, lawyers for the Giggle for Girls app argued that it was exempt from discrimination law because it sought to achieve substantial equality between men and women
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‘But I am lucky that I have the potential to leave. The girls in school with boys in their bathrooms and sports competitions, the women in prison with male rapists, and every Australian woman who has had her sex-based rights abolished can’t leave.
‘I will fight with every Australian woman until our rights are restored.’
The High Court found in favour of Ms Tickle, who was born male but identifies as female and has undergone gender-affirming surgery and hormone treatment.
In the High Court’s two-sentence explanation, the court stated there was ‘no reason to doubt the Full Court’s construction’ and that any appeal had ‘insufficient prospects of success’, a statement Ms Grover said ‘makes no sense.’
She also claimed the court’s decision essentially told Australians that they must ‘adhere to transgender ideology’ or be punished.
‘They have basically said that there is no issue with the law. But that is not true,’ she said.
‘Women still exist and we require legal protections. Currently, we don’t have them. The High Court is fine with that.
‘The only option left is for politicians to do their jobs and put women’s sex-based rights back into law.’
During the drawn-out case, lawyers for the Giggle for Girls app argued that it was exempt from discrimination law because it sought to achieve substantial equality between men and women.
Its intention was to create a ‘safe space’ for women, Ms Grover’s lawyers said.
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