Restore Lesbian & all Women’s Sex-Based Rights in Australia
NO MORE EXCUSES
The Australian Sex Discrimination Act must be changed to restore sex-based protections to women and girls
The following is an LBORI Statement from Susan Hawthorne, Convenor of the Coalition of Activist Lesbians Inc (CoAL), Australia on Giggle for Girls PTY LTD v Tickle. (18.5.26)
On 15 May 2026, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that a man who claims to be a woman is considered a woman under Australian law.
In 1984, Australia introduced the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) which set out the ways in which women should not be discriminated against. The SDA aligned Australia with CEDAW which it signed in 1980.
In 2010, a new Act was proposed by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). In response to that proposal, a group of lesbians put in a 45-page submission under the name Erinyes Autonomous Activist Lesbians. In 2010, they predicted precisely the effect that legislation prioritising gender over sex would have on lesbians, and indeed all women. The Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Act 2013 passed into law under the stewardship of the Labor government’s then Attorney General Mark Dreyfuss and Prime Minister Julia Gillard.[1] The Federal Court judgment of 2026 could have been avoided had anyone taken notice of the Erinyes’ predictions. And had the AHRC and so-called progressive politicians not been captured by the well-funded trans lobby.
- 2022. Roxanne Tickle makes a complaint against Giggle for Girls.
- 2024. The Federal Court in the case Tickle v Giggle found that Roxanne Tickle had been indirectly discriminated against and Sall Gover was fined AUD$10,000 and had to pay Tickle’s costs of AUD$50,000, as well as her own legal fees.
- October 2024. Sall Grover appealed the Federal Court decision.
- February 2025. Tickle filed a cross-appeal in the Federal Court claiming AUD$40,000 damages – because Grover had laughed at him.
- May 2026. The ruling by the Full Federal Court in Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd v Tickle (2026) found that Sall Grover was guilty of direct discrimination on two occasions. The punishment of Sall Grover has escalated. This time she has been fined AUD$20,000, court costs capped at AUD$100,000 as well as her own legal fees. It has been four years since Tickle made his complaint. Four years of uncertainty for Sall Grover, the creator of the single-sex app, Giggle for Girls. The legal process is part of the punishment.
In both court cases, the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, supported Tickle. Equality Australia, the pre-eminent Australian LGBTIQA++ organisation, also supported Tickle, along with financial backing from the Grata Fund.
Sall Grover needs support through this crowdfunding page.
Those of us who have been aware of the ‘trans’ war against lesbians have noted with alarm that women are being s erased in law, as if there were no material reality. The sex boundary is regarded as though no boundary exists between women and men. But there is no sex spectrum, there are simply two sexes and a multitude of ways of behaving. Indeed, ‘gender’ stereotypes are extreme forms of feminine/submissive behaviours at one end and masculine/dominant behaviours at the other.
The outcome is that women have no protection under Australian law. Not in prisons, not in health centres, not in rape crisis centres, public toilets (new laws are being drafted to make all public toilets ‘gender neutral’), not in swimming pools, restaurants, libraries – any place you can think of. No more women’s sports, women’s services and no more scholarships or prizes specifically for women. These losses affect women’s earnings, but most of all women’s freedom.
The amended Sex Discrimination Act (2013) needs to be reformed.
“There can be no more excuses[2] – the Act must be changed so that sex‑based protections for women and girls are once again clear, coherent and capable of doing the work women and girls need them to do.[3]
Here is a statement from the Human Rights Commission welcoming the interpretation of the Federal Court. This is what Lesbians are up against in Australia.
Susan Hawthorne is the Convenor of the Coalition of Activist Lesbians Australia (CoAL), the author of a number of relevant books including: In Defence of Separatism (1976/2019), Vortex: The Crisis of Patriarchy (2020) and Lesbian: Politics, Culture, Existence. For more see https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/susanhawthorne
[1] See ‘Lesbian Erasure’ for more on this.
[2] ‘There Can Be No More Excuses’. The AAWAA sets out clearly why reform is necessary.
[3] For in depth discussion of the laws, see the AAWAA blog here.
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The following is a copy of a letter CoAL sent to selected MPs in the Australian Parliament appealing for the SDA to be amended to restore women’s sex-based rights. We were ignored.
28 April. 2025.
Dear [name]
Re: Request for Review of 2013 Amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984
We write on behalf of the Coalition of Lesbian Activists (CoAL), founded in Australia in 1994 to advocate for the human rights of lesbians. We were the first lesbian organisation in the world accredited by the UN, and we work with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).[1] We advocate for lesbians and lesbian rights in Australia and jointly with other organisations internationally, particularly where we face discrimination or vulnerability due to our sex and sexual orientation.[2]
CoAL wishes to draw your urgent attention to the adverse impact of the 2013 amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984[3], a critical issue affecting many (not only lesbians) in your electorate and Australia-wide. We hope you can share our deep and continuing concerns. At the time Parliament passed the amendments, there was insufficient debate—within Parliament, in the media and among ordinary Australians—about the conflicting meanings and goals of sex and gender identity in language and the rights contained within it. This has led to sex self-identification legislation across Australia that now allows individuals to change their recorded birth sex—in some jurisdictions as frequently as once a year. Surely, this was not an intended outcome.
The erosion of the legal distinction between biological sex and gender identity in the Act results in many, perhaps unintended, outcomes with the loss of sex-based protections; of our rights to freedom of association and expression, to our safety, privacy, dignity, access to services to sport and lesbian culture. In the name of ‘inclusion,’ our rights are being ceded to any men who identify as female, claim to be lesbian and demand the right to be included in our spaces and activities. Even our Australian Human Right Commission and Administrative Review Tribunal now privilege gender over sex.[4] Lesbians have been the canaries in the mine; we have been attacked by transgender organisations, individuals and their often well-intentioned allies, and exploited through court prosecutions.[5]
Australia no longer fully upholds its legal obligations under CEDAW, to which we are a signatory. Australians are becoming aware of the resulting loss of women’s rights but find it difficult to express their concerns publicly. When we state the biological truth that there are only two sexes, when we want women-only sports and toilets, then we lose our jobs, are silenced, called ‘transphobic’ and other attacks. This will no longer be allowed in the UK, following the recent decision by the UK Supreme Court.[6] You can bring about the same changes here in Australia through a revised Act. Questions of unfairness and of safety arise in women’s sport. In terms of fairness, the Ultimate Pool Group in the UK recently banned ‘transgender women,’ finding ‘female players have unique disadvantages compared to male players,’ after two trans-identified men reached the finals of the Ultimate Pool Women’s Pro Series.[7] For safety and fairness, consider The Flying Bats, a soccer team in Sydney, renowned as a lesbian team now rebadged as ‘LGBTQIA+ Women’s and Non-Binary.’[8] With 5 male trans identified players, it has won all its games in women’s grade, and female players have been harmed.[9] Lesbian culture has suffered. UK research shows growing pressures on lesbians, such as to have sex with trans identified men who retain their male sex organs.[10] Lesbians can be prosecuted for advertising lesbian-only events since the 1980s.[11] Access to our events and spaces is much more difficult today (especially for young lesbians seeking their community). Compare this with the widely advertised Sydney Opera House lesbian spectacular Living Our Passion that played to a full house on 14 July 1991. This is not a picture of historical or cultural progress.
We ask you to support a review and revision of the current provisions in the 2013 amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, specifically with regard to our concerns in this letter. These issues require urgent attention to ensure that the rights of women, girls and lesbians are, again, not only recognised but properly protected in Australian law.
Constituents entrust you, as their elected representative, to ensure the rights and safety of all Australians are protected in law. The 2013 amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 do not fully reflect this responsibility, particularly in relation to women’s (and therefore lesbians’) rights.
- We urge you to support a comprehensive review of the Act, to address these concerns and to restore meaningful protections for women and girls in Australia.
- We ask you to take formal steps to ensure legislative reform begins speedily, and that women, including those from marginalised groups such as lesbians, are at the table to consult on the content of that reform. We point out that LGBTQI+ groups do not represent all lesbians and, in fact, have conflicting interests that work against lesbian rights.
- We ask you take formal steps to ensure that women are consulted in any future discussions on reforming the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
We would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these issues and work together towards a solution that fully protects the rights of all women and girls, while respecting the rights of all individuals, too.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to your response and hope for your support in addressing these vital issues.
Yours sincerely
Susan Hawthorne
Convenor, CoAL
[1] Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (2025)
[2] ‘Lesbians are fighting back in Australasia, too,’ UN online CSW69 NGO Virtual Forum (2025).
[3] Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013.
[4] Roxanne Tickle v Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd & Anor (2024); Women’s Forum Australia (2025)
[5] Lesbian Action Group, LGB Alliance Australia (2025).
[6] JUDGMENT For Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers (Respondent) before Lord Reed, President Lord Hodge, Deputy President Lord Lloyd-Jones Lady Rose Lady Simler JUDGMENT GIVEN ON 16 April 2025 Heard on 26 and 27 November 2024.
[8] The Flying Bats (2025).
[9] Gluck (2024); Sky News ‘Special Report (2025); Ben Fordham, 2GB Sydney (2024).
[10] Angela Wild (2019) Lesbians At Ground Zero
[11] O’Keefe v Sapho’s Party Inc (2009) SAEOT 50, Judgment of His Honour Judge Barrett,(Member Ms H Jasinski and Member Mr D Shetliffe, 24 April 2009.
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