sydney, australia – Sal Glover says he had no hesitation when he blocked transgender woman Roxanne Tickle from the Australian-based women's app Giggle for Girls.
“It didn't register because there are always men trying to get in. Mr. Tickle passed an AI facial recognition test that was deliberately set to 94 percent accuracy, meaning some men would pass. ” Glover, who refuses to refer to transgender women as women, told Al Jazeera.
“Delete the rest manually.”
“When he called me and I heard a male voice, I hung up, but again, this was not unusual,” Glover added.
Glover's decision to limit the app's availability to “cisgender” women (women whose birth sex matches their gender identity) not only puts her at the center of a culture war over gender, but also puts her at the center of a legal It was also exposed to the crosshairs.
Tickle, who identifies as a woman, claims she has a legal right to access services aimed at women and has been discriminated against based on her gender identity.
In a case that has received attention around the world, Mr Tickle is suing Mr Glover under Australia's anti-discrimination laws, based on a 2013 amendment that added gender identity to the list of protected categories.
At issue are the definitions of sex and gender, and ultimately the very question of what it means to be a woman.
For transgender activists, the ruling in favor of Ms Tickle, who is seeking 200,000 Australian dollars ($128,320) in compensation, is a vindication of their years-long fight to be treated like other women. This will prove the gender.
For so-called gender-critical feminists, Glover's victory will affirm the need for women-only spaces that take into account the fundamental differences between men and women.
After hearing arguments from both sides over several days in the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney earlier this month, the judges are expected to issue a decision in Tickle v Giggle within three to six months.
Glover made Giggle in 2020 when she returned to Australia after working as a screenwriter in Hollywood, where she said persistent social media abuse at the hands of men led her to therapy.
“I wanted to create a safe women-only space in the palm of my hand,” said Glover, who spent A$500,000 ($320,800) building the site.
As far as Glover is concerned, “women-only” spaces should not include trans women like Tickle.
Tickle, who underwent vaginal and lip surgery to change her gender on her birth certificate to female, joined the app in 2021 after her application was accepted by gender recognition software designed to screen out men.
Tickle's account was restricted approximately six months later following a manual review.
“The evidence will show that Mr Tickle is a woman,” Mr Tickle's lawyer Georgina Costello told the court, according to local media reports.
“She identifies herself as a woman. She expresses herself as a woman.”
Costello also accused Glover of running a “global campaign” against Tickle, including persistently misrepresenting her gender in public statements and selling offensive merchandise featuring her image. He told the court that he had set it up.
“We're saying that because of Ms. Glover's views on transgender women, she was unable to understand that transgender women were women,” Costello said.
Tickle's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Hilary Kincaid, lead lawyer at Sydney law firm Kincaid Legal, said the case was complex for multiple reasons apart from the contentious subject matter.
“If we had a physical site, it would be much clearer,” Kincaid told Al Jazeera.
Mr Kincaid said Australia's arcane laws and regulations for community and sports clubs would also be a relevant consideration in the case.
“Very generally speaking, you can lock someone out of private property depending on the conditions of entry,” she says.
“So if the club has a sign up that says they have the right to refuse entry at their discretion, that may be allowed.”
The case attracted significant international attention, particularly on social media, as Mr. Glover actively gave interviews to the media and worked to raise funds for his defense.
Mr Glover said he had raised about A$546,000 ($350,314) so far, but initially struggled as he was blocked from many fundraising platforms.
“Fortunately, we had the skills and were able to build our own platform,” she said.
Australia's legal stosh has become a test case for gender-critical feminists, also known as trans-exclusive radical feminists (TERFs), both domestically and in other countries such as the US, Canada and the UK. It is considered.
They argue that companies and organizations should be able to exclude transgender women for reasons such as safety and fairness.
“Gender identity is being prioritized over sex, and no one is ever explaining why,” says women's rights activist, Glover supporter and co-host of the podcast TERF Talk Down Under. Angela Jones told Al Jazeera.
“Women's rights are being stripped away, affecting women from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds and victims of domestic violence, etc. We thought we had rights, but in the last three or four years we've learned that we have no rights at all. We don't have separate spaces for men and women. ”
Australia's main trans activist organizations ACON and Transgender Victoria declined to comment on the matter.
Glover accused transgender activists of “doing everything in their power” to shut down businesses.
“They not only took away a valuable service for women, they took away my livelihood,” she said.
“But if I'm just there for work, other people will be allowed in too. It's important to me that that space is reserved for women. In fact, I'm not taking any financial loss here. It’s me.”
In recent years, as society's acceptance of LGBTQ people has increased, many companies have expressed support for transgender rights, but some have faced backlash for their association with the issue. .
Last year, Bud Light's sales plummeted following conservative backlash over its short-lived partnership with trans activist and TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
In the United States, Republican-led states have introduced dozens of laws to curb transgender rights, many of which limit trans women's participation in women's sports and gender-affirming care for minors. It is intended to.
In Australia, too, the debate is polarized, as evidenced by the career history of Catherine Debs, Mr Glover's lawyer and former parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party.
But while conservative-run businesses have previously resisted providing services to LGBTQ people, refusing to accommodate same-sex marriage on religious grounds, for example, the fight over transgender rights follows less predictable ideological currents.
Many of the critics of trans activism are not religious or even necessarily conservative, and some of those leading the charge are radical feminists.
Attorney Kincaid said Tickle v. Giggle has similarities to a recent case involving a man who took legal action after being denied entry to an art installation where a woman was coddled and offered champagne by a male butler. He said there is.
The Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ruled that the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) discriminated against patron Jason Lau and the man should be allowed to view the exhibition.
“If MONA had created a ladies' lounge as a club, the outcome might have been different,” Kincaid said.
Still, even if the court rules in Tickle's favor, the level of compensation she might receive is unclear.
“If she is successful under this law, her losses will be compensated, but it will be difficult to argue whether she can assert her rights.” [Tickle] We suffered certain financial losses,” Kincaid said.
Whatever the outcome of the lawsuit, it is almost certain to intensify the acrimonious debate over transgender inclusion and gender-based rights.
Mr Glover said he was prepared for any outcome and was prepared to take the case all the way to the High Court of Australia if necessary.
“But if we ultimately lose, we will have to reincorporate the business somewhere else,” she said.