Giggle v Tickle: Australia court increases payout for trans woman in landmark discrimination case

A Sydney court has doubled the discrimination payout for an Australian trans woman who was kicked off a female-only app. It comes almost two years after Roxanne Tickle successfully sued Sall Grover, founder of the Giggle for Girls app, for blocking her account on the grounds of gender identity. Grover lodged an appeal against that verdict, but on Friday, the Federal Court dismissed it and further found that Tickle was directly - rather than indirectly - discriminated against by Grover. Tickle, a biological male who identifies as a woman, was also awarded compensation of AU$20,000 ($14,000; £11,000), double the original amount. Giggle's legal team argued throughout the original case that sex is a biological concept. They freely conceded that Tickle was discriminated against, but on the grounds of sex, rather than gender identity. Known as "Tickle vs Giggle", the years-long dispute is the first time a case of alleged gender identity discrimination has been heard by the Federal Court in Australia. During the original case, the court heard that Grover had removed Tickle from the app after spotting "male facial features" on Tickle's profile photo. Grover told the court that when she loo