patrick.net

One of the better named legal cases to ever have come before a court , Roxanne Tickle v. Giggle for Girls (“Tickle v. Giggle”), is no laughing matter for the women of Australia. The landmark gender-versus-sex case is underway where a man who identifies as a woman has gone to court against a female-only social networking app and its founder and CEO after being barred from the platform.

In the case, which opened today, April 9, before the Federal Court of Australia, the question of whether women should be forced to open female-only spaces to men is front and centre. Tickle, a man who identifies as a woman, is claiming to have been discriminated against in being banned from the female-only social networking app, ‘Giggle for Girls’.

Tickle is claiming that, being “legally permitted to identify as female” and having had his birth certificate updated to represent him as such, he should be allowed entry into both physical and digital female-only spaces.

He’s seeking damages, a written apology and complete access to the platform.

Meanwhile, the defence is arguing against the suggestion that Tickle was discriminated against on the basis of gender identity, arguing instead that he was denied access to the app on the basis of sex.

On Tuesday, the court was told that Tickle has lived as a woman since 2017, has had ‘gender affirmation’ surgery, possesses a birth certificate edited to state that his gender is female and “feels in her mind that psychologically she is a woman”.