Aussie who lost landmark ‘what is a woman?’ battle to transgender woman to leave Australia: ‘I will never forgive the government’
Sall Grover, founder of the women-only networking app Giggle for Girls, has vowed to leave Australia after the country's High Court rejected her final appeal in a landmark sex discrimination case. The dispute centred on whether Grover unlawfully discriminated against transgender woman Roxanne Tickle by excluding her from the app in 2021, and the ruling closes off all legal avenues for Grover, who says she now plans to relocate her business overseas and holds "no respect" for the Australian judiciary.
The Federal Court had already dismissed Grover's appeal in May, doubling damages awarded to Tickle to $20,000 (Australian dollars) and ordering Grover to pay up to $100,000 in legal costs. On Thursday, the High Court refused her bid for special leave to appeal, ruling there was "no reason to doubt" the lower court's interpretation and that any further appeal had "insufficient prospects of success". Grover's lawyers had argued the app was exempt under discrimination law as a "special measure" creating a safe space for women, while lawyers for the Sex Discrimination Commissioner countered that this reasoning could excuse "invidious discrimination". Grover says she will continue campaigning for changes to sex discrimination law even after leaving the country.
In short
- Sall Grover loses final appeal in Australia's "what is a woman" discrimination case
- High Court backs ruling favouring transgender woman Roxanne Tickle
- Grover to relocate her Giggle for Girls app business overseas
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Grover’s strongest case is that women-only spaces can serve as a special measure to address sex-based disadvantage and support privacy, safety and participation. She argues that excluding Tickle was consistent with that purpose, and that the law should protect organisations seeking to create such spaces rather than expose them to substantial damages and legal costs.
The case against
Tickle’s strongest case is that anti-discrimination protections should apply to transgender women, and that excluding someone on that basis can cause real harm. Treating a women-only service as a blanket exemption could permit unjustified discrimination; the courts found Grover’s legal arguments did not provide sufficient grounds for another appeal.
Explained simply
Giggle for Girls is an app founded by Sall Grover as a networking space for women. In 2021, Grover excluded Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman, from the app, prompting Tickle to bring a sex discrimination case.
The case raised questions about how Australian discrimination law applies to transgender people and whether a women-only service can exclude someone on that basis. Grover argued the app qualified for an exemption as a measure to support women; the case also matters to other services that set eligibility by sex or gender.
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