The federal Court has allowed an appeal by Victoria’s Lesbian Action Group who want to run events that exclude transgender women from attending.
The closely watched case may have wide ramifications for people who are transgender across Australia and potentially open a pathway to legally block people from spaces and events.
The group sought permission under the Sex Discrimination Act to run events that specially ban transgender women from attending. They initially sought a five year waiver from the laws.
Their request was rejected by the Human Rights Commission in 2023 and an appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal was also dismissed.
Today in the Federal Court Justice Mark Moshinsky said that the ruling from the tribunal should be set aside and reconsidered. He found that the tribunal had erred in its legal reasoning and ordered that they reconsider the matter. Justice Moshinky however did not make any determination on what the outcome of the request should be.
Outside the court Nicole Mowbray spokesperson for the Lesbian Action Group said the court’s judgement was a “definite win” for the group. Mowbray said gender ideology was eroding the rights of lesbian women who want to attend events where they did not have to share space with people assigned male at birth.
Speaking the The Australian Mowbray said there was a need for lesbians to be able to create community gatherings and events solely for themselves.
“There’s nowhere for younger lesbians to find their people. They’re telling us that they’re very isolated. They’re also telling us that in the compulsory mixed sex space under the LGBTIQ+, there’s horrendous sexual harassment going on,” Mowbray said.
Legal director of Equality Australia, Heather Corkhill, told the ABC the court’s decision was only a technical win for the lesbian group.
“The court has not endorsed discrimination against trans women, and it has not decided whether the exemption should be granted. It has simply identified legal errors in the tribunal’s reasoning, so the matter must now be reconsidered,” she said.
The full judgement is available online.
