Giggle for Girls app discriminated against trans woman Roxanne Tickle, appeal judge rules when doubling damages | Sydney
A federal court has upheld a landmark ruling finding that a women-only social media app and its founder unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle after the transgender woman was denied access to the platform.
In their ruling on Friday, May 15, justices Melissa Perry, Wendy Abraham and Geoffrey Kennett confirmed an August 2024 finding that Tickle had been discriminated against because of her gender identity, and also sided with Tickle’s cross-appeal, claiming she had twice experienced direct discrimination by the Giggle for Girls app and its founder Sall Grover.
The app and Grover had appealed justice Robert Bromwich’s landmark ruling, which found they had indirectly discriminated against Tickle when they were banned from the platform because they thought she was male.
On Friday, a full bench of the federal court in Sydney upheld Bromwich’s decision and awarded Tickle $20,000 in damages, twice the amount originally awarded.
The court also ruled that Tickle succeeded on his cross-appeal; She was found to have been discriminated against twice, denied access to the Giggle app because of Tickle’s gender-related appearance, and secondly, denied readmission to the app.
Tickle, from New South Wales, was blocked from accessing the app in 2021 after uploading a selfie of her face as part of the registration process.
“The court finds that Giggle For Girls and Ms. Grover excluded Ms. Tickle from the Giggle app and refused to readmit her because of her gender-bending appearance, citing her selfie,” Perry told the court.
Perry continued: “This amounted to direct discrimination by citing a characteristic of Ms. Tickle’s gender identity that relates to her being a transgender woman.”
“Ms Tickle was successful in her cross-appeal under the statute, where gender identity is defined as gender-related identity and gender-related characteristics, including appearance.”
The judges agreed that discrimination against Tickle because of her gender identity was contrary to section 22 of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 when read with section 51B of the same act.
At a four-day appeal hearing in August 2025, the federal court’s full bench heard that Grover’s team believed the app, designed as a “female-only safe space”, constituted a “specific measure” allowing discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) to compensate for historical disadvantages between men and women.
Tickle appealed, claiming she was treated as a “hostile invader” and twice directly discriminated against when she was removed from the Giggle for Girls app.
He sought $30,000 in general damages and $10,000 in severe damages. His team argued that the $10,000 in damages previously awarded was improper and did not take into account Grover’s conduct in the case.
On Friday, Tickle was awarded $20,000 in damages. The court also ordered Giggle and Grover to pay costs of up to $50,000.
The lawsuit was first filed in December 2022. During the first three-day hearing in April 2024, the court heard that Tickle had lived as a woman since 2017, had a birth certificate stating her gender as female, had undergone gender confirmation surgery and “psychologically felt in her mind that she was a woman”.
Participants claimed that biological sex was immutable and that the app was designed as an online haven for women.
This is the first gender identity discrimination case to reach federal court and is being watched around the world for its potentially far-reaching consequences on public spaces, sports and events.
According to crowdfunding website Giggle, Grover’s team is fundraising to prepare for a possible supreme court fight.
