Australia: Transgender woman files lawsuit against female-only app for discrimination

A female-only application “Giggle for Girls” was sued by an Australian transgender woman who alleged that it discriminated against her by not allowing her to use the platform.Roxanne Tickle filed a lawsuit on December 22 in a federal court in which she claimed that she was barred unlawfully from using the application in September 2021 after the firm's CEO Sally “Sall” Grover along with the firm claimed that she was a man.

In her plea, the activist has sought the platform's complete access, written apology and damages. She stated that her access was revoked even after the artificial intelligence had approved her selfie in February 2021, hence providing her full access to the platform.

In the documents submitted in the court, the woman said that she tried to contact Grover or Giggle but in vain.

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“I believe that I am being discriminated against by being provided with extremely limited functionality of a smartphone app by the app provider compared to that of other users because I am a transgender woman,” Tickle stated in the complaint registered in the Australian Human Rights Commission in December 2021.

“The app provider appears not to recognise transgender women as female. I am legally permitted to identify as female,” she added.

On March 3, 2022, responding to the complaint, lawyers of Giggle at the Feminist Legal Clinic said that the transgender woman was “considered male” on the basis of her appearance in the selfie and hence, the firm had revoked her access.

“(Tickle’s) gender identity was not known to (Grover) or other Giggle personnel at the time of removal and did not inform the decision to preclude (Tickle) from the app,” stated the lawyers.

Grover, in atweet posted on March 22, called Tickle a “trans identified male”.

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“In January 2022, I received an Australian Human Rights Commission complaint against both Giggle & me personally, from a trans identified male who wants to use a social networking app for females & for me to be re-educated on sex & gender,” she stated.

Grover posted an open letter on Twitter in which she stated that she created the platform for girls after she suffered abuse and was told that she required “strong female support network”.

She added that she allowed transgender women originally on the application but later changed the policy after “Kill TERF” groups sent her death threats on the app.

(With inputs from agencies)