No Court Can Make a Man a Woman
The court did not create Australia’s absurd gender identity law, but it showed exactly why it must be changed.
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About the Author
Dr. Colin Wright is an evolutionary biology PhD, Manhattan Institute Fellow, and CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Reality’s Last Stand. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Times, the New York Post, Newsweek, City Journal, Quillette, The Washington Examiner, and other major news outlets and scientific journals.
The latest ruling in Tickle v. Giggle this month is a major loss for Sall Grover and her women-only app, Giggle for Girls. But it’s also a warning about what happens when law drifts too far from reality and begins punishing people for acting as if facts still matter.
The case began in 2021, when Roxanne Tickle, a male who identifies as a woman and had a Queensland birth certificate reissued to list his sex as female, downloaded Giggle for Girls, an app created by Grover as a women-only digital space. Tickle initially gained access after uploading a selfie, but was later blocked after manual review. Tickle complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission in December 2021, then sued under Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act, alleging discrimination on the basis of gender identity. In 2024, the Federal Court found that Giggle and Grover had indirectly discriminated against Tickle and ordered them to pay him $10,000.
On May 15, 2026, the Full Federal Court went further. It dismissed Grover’s appeal, allowed Tickle’s cross-appeal, replaced the finding of indirect discrimination with direct discrimination, and doubled the damages to $20,000. The court held that Grover and Giggle unlawfully discriminated against Tickle by excluding and then refusing to readmit Tickle “on the basis of her gender-related appearance,” thereby treating Tickle less favorably than “a person designated female at birth” seeking access to the app. Reuters reported that Grover plans to seek an appeal to Australia’s High Court.
