Transgender-Identifying Male Entitled to Join Female-Only App, Australian Court Rules

The Federal Court of Australia found on Friday that “Roxanne Tickle,” a man who identifies as a woman, was subjected to “indirect gender discrimination” after being removed from Giggle for Girls, a female-only social platform that is now defunct. The app is ordered to pay Tickle $10,000 Australian (roughly $6,800 USD) and his legal costs.

“Sex is not confined to being a biological concept referring to whether a person at birth had male or female physical traits, nor confined to being a binary concept, limited to the male or female sex, but rather takes a broader ordinary meaning, informed by its use, including in State and Territory legislation,” reads the court judgment. “And accordingly, sex can refer to a person being male, female, or another non-binary status and also encompasses the idea that a person’s sex can be changed.”