He calls himself “Roxanne”

Written by

Ophelia Benson

in

Australia court doubles payout for trans woman in landmark discrimination case

A Sydney court has doubled the discrimination payout for an Australian trans woman who was kicked off a female-only app.

It comes almost two years after Roxanne Tickle successfully sued Sall Grover, founder of the Giggle for Girls app, for blocking her account on the grounds of gender identity.

Grover lodged an appeal against that verdict, but on Friday, the Federal Court dismissed it and further found that Tickle was directly – rather than indirectly – discriminated against by Grover.

Tickle was also awarded compensation of AU$20,000 ($14,000; £11,000), double the original amount.

Unfuckingbelievable.

So in Australia women cannot have anything that is just for women? And the legal system is cool with that, and eager to tighten the screws on women who resist?

Under the country’s Sex Discrimination Act, it is illegal for providers of goods or services to discriminate against another person on the ground of a person’s gender identity.

But it’s not on the ground of the person’s god damn genner idenniny it’s on the ground of the person’s sex. Genner idenniny is just a claim, a pretend, a label, a choice, a fantasy, a stupid idea in the head of a man, a make-believe, a joke, a taunt, a sadistic game, a fuck you to every woman on the planet.

In Friday’s Federal Court judgement, the full court found that Grover had engaged in unlawful direct discrimination, saying she had treated Tickle “who is a transgender woman, less favourably than a person designated female at birth seeking access to the Giggle App”.

Are there any aboriginal groups in Australia? If so have any of them been forced to let newcomers join because to keep them out would be treating the newcomers less favorably than a person designated aboriginal at birth? Please advise.

Grover founded the Giggle for Girls app in 2020 in response to online abuse by men during her time as a screenwriter in Hollywood.

So now it’s Australia that’s abusing her. Thanks a lot.

Comments

2 responses to “He calls himself “Roxanne””

  1. Mike B Avatar
    Mike B

    I’m sorry to hear all this. As a gay man, this really affects me not at all, but it still rankles my sense of fairness to no end. I’m pretty certain there will never come a day when “trans” men ever present a threat to men in any of their organizations, which speaks whole volumes about how the world really works.

  2. Arcadia Avatar
    Arcadia

    There are portions of the judgement that suggest the judges felt their hands were tied by the law as it is presently written, and that the only remedy will be changing the law.

    The law could be changed as soon as the next sitting week, but that’s mere theory, and unlikely to happen with our parliament as it is constituted now, and with our media as it is now.

    The main opposition party, the Liberal Party (I am sorry to be so confusing for you northern hemisphere types who think of “liberal” as meaning left of centre, but Australia’s Liberal Party is of the Right) has made an announcement saying that if they were to be elected next election, they would fix this. However, it is highly unlikely they will be elected next election, and Hansard shows that the original Gillard government amendments that are the present source of all this difficulty were passed on a bipartisan basis. So we’d still be relying on a party that passed this nonsense to undo it, and most have demonstrated when questioned that they don’t understand it.

    Further, if the Liberal Party were the heroes here, they’re not doing what’s required in the States they govern now: Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Some good things have been done in Queensland on “gender affirming care”, and in Northern Territory to get men out of women’s prisons, but that’s it. No reversals of Self ID, or even attempts at it, and no clear announcements that it’s perfectly okay, desirable and normal to have and fund female spaces and programs, or LGB spaces and programs.

    To say I’m skeptical that the Liberals will fix this is an understatement.

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