only in australia could a case called tickle vs giggle be a milestone in the battle for the rights of trans women
to quote one of the linked articles directly:
The decision provides much needed clarity around the meaning of “sex”, a word not defined in the Sex Discrimination Act. Importantly, Justice Bromwich stated that “in its contemporary ordinary meaning, sex is changeable”.
He also noted the concept of sex has broadened over the past 30 years, especially as people can change the sex listed on their birth certificates. He said:
The acceptance that Ms Tickle is correctly described as a woman, reinforcing her gender identity status for the purposes of this proceeding, and therefore for the purposes of bringing her present claim of gender identity discrimination, is legally unimpeachable.
The court unequivocally rejected the argument that sex is immutable: that the sex that was presumed and assigned to a person at birth is the sex someone will always be. Justice Bromwich stated:
the sex of a person may take into account a range of factors, including biological and physical characteristics, legal recognition and how they present themselves and are recognised socially.
The court found Grover did not actually know that Tickle was transgender. She excluded her from the app based on her opinion that Tickle was a man. Justice Bromwich stated:
Of course, given Ms Grover’s views, her decision almost certainly would have been the same had she been aware of Ms Tickle’s gender identity. For Ms Grover, there is no legitimate distinction between transgender women and cisgender men.
A cisgender person is someone whose gender identity corresponds with their sex assigned at birth.
This judgement means it’s unlawful for a person to make decisions about whether someone is, or is not, a woman based on the sex that was originally recorded on their birth certificate, or based on how feminine they appear.
It will constitute discrimination if a person is required to have the appearance of a cisgender woman as a prerequisite to accessing a particular service.