The decision on the Giggle v Tickle case will be handed down on Friday. The court began hearing the appeal in August 2025 and the parties have had a long wait for the judges’ decision.
Sal Grover and her company, Giggle for Girls, are appealing against a previous decision from Justice Robert Bromwich, which was handed down in 2024 and found that Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman, had been indirectly discriminated against when she was barred from using the social media app in 2021. Giggle for Girls was ordered to pay $10,000 in compensation.
The appeal was heard by Justice Melissa Perry, Justice Geoffrey Kennett and Justice Wendy Abraham in Sydney.
The Federal Court originally found that transgender woman Roxanne Tickle had been discriminated against when she was blocked from accessing the social media app Giggle for Girls.
Justice Bromwich found the company had discriminated against Tickle when it decided she “did not look sufficiently female” and ruled that the updated laws meant that sex, in its “ordinary meaning”, is changeable.
It was the first time the gender identity discrimination provisions had been tested since they were added to the Sex Discrimination Act in 2013. Justice Bromwich awarded Tickle $10,000 in compensation, with costs capped at $50,000.
Appealing the decision, Grover and her legal team argued that the court had erred in its decision and misinterpreted the Sex Discrimination Act.
While Roxanne Tickle has kept a low profile during the case, Giggle for Girls founder Sal Grover has become a prominent campaigner against transgender inclusion, regularly appearing as a pundit on conservative media channels.
