The creator of a female-only app who was found to have discriminated against a transgender woman has called on her fellow Australians to ‘wake up’ to the erosion of women’s rights, as she prepares to appeal the decision.
Sall Grover, the founder of the app Giggle for Girls, lost a Federal Court case last month brought by transgender woman Roxanne Tickle.
Ms Grover had banned the 54-year-old from her app in 2021 because she argued she was biologically male.
This was despite Ms Tickle having lived as a woman since 2017, undergoing gender-affirming surgery two years later and having her sex swapped to ‘female’ on a new birth certificate.
Justice Robert Bromwich found Ms Tickle had suffered indirect discrimination, ordering Ms Grover to pay her $10,000 – a fraction of the $200,000 she was claiming in damages – and to cover her legal costs.
Now, Ms Grover has hit out at her opponent – and issued a stark warning to all Australians.
‘They’re forcing you to believe that men are women and, if they can force you to believe that, they can force you to believe anything,’ Ms Grover told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Politicians cannot campaign to end violence against women and try to look like the good guys when they are literally forcing through legislation for women to not be able to say “no” to men.’
Sall Grover (pictured), the founder of the app Giggle for Girls, is prepared to go all the way to the High Court to settle the vexed question of ‘what is a woman’
‘Women have to be allowed to say no, it’s that simple.’
At the heart of the case is the vexed issue of what defines a woman.
When asked last year what a woman was by journalist Piers Morgan, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sparked controversy by saying: ‘An adult female.’
For Ms Grover, sex is a biological reality assigned at birth and cannot be changed. She is pushing for that to be enshrined in law under the Sex Discrimination Act.
Ms Tickle’s legal team argued that sex and gender identity were not binary categories but rather they were partly social and psychological.
Ultimately, Justice Bromwich agreed, finding that the argument put forward by Ms Grover’s legal team ‘conflicted with a long history of cases decided by courts going back over 30 years’.
‘Those cases establish that in its ordinary meaning, sex is changeable,’ he said.
Ms Grover is undeterred, however.
Justice Robert Bromwich found Roxanne Tickle (pictured) had suffered indirect discrimination as a result of being booted off the Giggle for Girls app. He ordered Ms Grover to pay her $10,000 – a fraction of the $200,00 she was claiming in damages – and to cover her legal costs
‘The “what is a woman” question is a huge thing for one judge to decide,’ she said.
‘It has to go to the High Court because we are dealing with legislation.’
Ms Grover will file her appeal in the first week of October – and she has bolstered her legal team with the addition of a big-name KC whose identity she is keeping close to her chest.
She has so far raised over $150,000 of a target $800,000 for the gruelling court fight.
But she’s in it for the long haul, expecting it to drag out until 2026.
‘Women’s rights have been slowly crumbling behind the scenes and getting no attention,’ she said.
‘It’s just now that it’s gotten to a point where myself and so many other women have just said no, enough is enough.
‘I am inundated with messages from everyday Australians who say I have absolutely no idea that this is happening, this is outrageous.’
‘When Australians wake up and realise what is happening, especially parents, they are outraged and want to get involved.’
Ms Grover will file her appeal in the first week of October – and she has bolstered her legal team with the addition of a big-name KC whose identity she is keeping close to her chest
Ms Grover said she is still committed to building a female-only app that will exclude transgender women (pictured: the Giggle app)
Ms Grover is particularly incensed by the comments her opponent made after Justice Bromwich handed down his judgement.
Speaking to journalists on the court steps, Ms Tickle said she hoped the result would offer ‘healing for trans and gender diverse people’.
‘I brought my case to show trans people that you can be brave, and you can stand up for yourself,’ she said.
‘I know that I can now get on with the rest of my life and have a coffee down the road with my friends, play hockey with my team and put this horribleness behind me.’
Ms Grover, who refuses to use female pronouns for Ms Tickle, said the comments were a ‘complete slap in the face’.
Despite the court ruling, Ms Grover said she is still committed to building a female-only app that will ban transgender women.
‘I wanted to fight back because not only do I want to run a female space, I also want to be able to go to female spaces. I want women’s rights.
‘We’ve just got decisions to make as to whether the app is moved offshore and not available to Australian women.
‘It would essentially mean an Australian-owned company for women is literally pushed out of the country.’
Ms Grover reserves particular ire for Labor politicians like Finance Minister Katy Gallagher who this week dismissed One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s bill to to acknowledge biological reality.
‘We know how vulnerable the gender diverse community is, we know how they struggle, we do not think the Senate is a qualified place for that debate,’ Senator Gallagher said.
‘That debate should be had at home, with friends, with health professionals that seek to guide some of those difficult decisions for young people in this country.’
Ms Grover said it beggars belief that Senator Gallagher is also the Minister for Women.
‘She was saying the Senate is not equipped to have a debate about this and you think: what the hell is it for then?
Roxanne Tickle (pictured left) has been using her platform to campaign for transgender rights. SHe said outside court she was looking forward to getting ‘on with the rest of my life and have a coffee down the road with my friends, play hockey with my team and put this horribleness behind me’
Ms Grover, who refuses to use female pronouns for Ms Tickle, said the comments were a ‘complete slap in the face’
‘It’s an absurd statement to make, we’re talking about legislation. It needs to be discussed with legislators. That’s literally their job.’
Ms Grover had a stark warning for other protected groups in society.
‘I think women are the canary in the coal mine here because we obviously it’s happening to us first,’ she said.
‘But I think that LGBTQ+ organisations who are celebrating this victory are going to have to explain to their gay men, male members, they too can’t have gay male spaces now.
‘That doesn’t seem to have occurred to them or else they’re just gaslighting everyone. It’s Turkeys voting for Christmas.’
Daily Mail Australia approached Ms Tickle for comment.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk