A transgender woman barred from using the female-only platform Giggle for Girls has accused the social media site of discrimination.
In a Federal Court lawsuit filed on December 22, Roxanne Tickle claims she was unlawfully barred from using Giggle in September 2021 after the firm and its CEO Sally 'Sall' Grover said she was a man.
The NSW activist is seeking damages, a written apology and complete access to the platform.
Ms Tickle's access was revoked despite her selfie being approved by artificial intelligence in February 2021 giving her full access to the site.
Attempts to contact Giggle or Ms Grover in the months after she was barred were unsuccessful, she said in documents filed with the court.
"I believe that I am being discriminated against by being provided with extremely limited functionality of a smart phone app by the app provider compared to that of other users because I am a transgender woman," Ms Tickle wrote in a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission filed in December 2021.
"The app provider appears not to recognise transgender women as female. I am legally permitted to identify as female."
On March 3, 2022, Giggle's lawyers at the Feminist Legal Clinic responded to the complaint, saying Ms Tickle was "considered male" based on her appearance in the selfie and that this was why she had been removed.
"(Ms Tickle's) gender identity was not known to (Ms Grover) or other Giggle personnel at the time of removal and did not inform the decision to preclude (Ms Tickle) from the app," the lawyers wrote.
In a tweet on March 22, Ms Grover referred to Ms Tickle as a "trans identified male".
"In January 2022, I received an Australian Human Rights Commission complaint against both Giggle & me personally, from a trans identified male who wants to use a social networking app for females & for me to be re-educated on sex & gender," she wrote.
An open letter on Ms Grover's Twitter page says she created Giggle after suffering abuse and being told she needed a "strong female support network".
She claims she originally allowed transgender women onto the platform but changed this policy after receiving death threats through "Kill TERF" groups on the app.
After initially suing Giggle and Ms Grover in the Federal Circuit and Family Court in July this year, Ms Tickle dropped the case, afraid of the legal costs after hearing the firm's CEO would take the matter all the way to the High Court if she had to.
Saying she now had "limited funding" to pursue the lawsuit, she is asking the Federal Court for approval to launch her case out of time.
