An Australian app developer has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over the legal recognition of a person’s sex.
The complaint has arisen from the outcome of a court case last year, where a federal judge declared that sex is “changeable.”
Sall Grover developed the app, Giggle for Girls, as a female-only social platform. But when trans woman Roxanne Tickle joined and was blocked by Grover in 2021, Tickle took the app developer to court.
In August, the Federal Court ruled in favour of Tickle, determining that she had been discriminated against indirectly.
In his ruling, Justice Robert Bromwich said Tickle was a legal female, which he noted was also reflected in her holding an updated birth certificate that lists her as female.
“Sex is changeable,” Bromwich said.
In October, Grover lodged an appeal against the outcome of the case.
“The ... ruling of Justice Bromwich in the Federal Court of Australia … misinterprets the fundamental rights of women and girls, and the principles of single-sex spaces essential for their safety and dignity,” Grover said in announcing the appeal.
Now, Grover is taking her complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC).
“I lodged a formal complaint with the U.N., challenging the Australian Government over a Federal Court ruling that has erased the legal recognition of sex as a protected category, discriminating against women because we’re female,” Grover posted to X.
Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, also criticised the court ruling in a statement issued in September.
“The ruling demonstrates the concrete consequences that result when gender identity is allowed to supplant sex and override women’s rights to female-only services and spaces,” she said.
A successful complaint to the U.N. can result in official recognition of an issue, recommendations, resolution, diplomatic pressure or other actions.
Gender Debate
Grover’s announcement comes as New South Wales Labor’s Minister for Women, MP Jodie Harrison, engaged in an exchange in state parliament with Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party legislative assembly member Robert Borsak.Borsak queried Harrison how the government could guarantee the safety of women in toilets and change rooms without their right to privacy being threatened by biological men.
“The government’s very firm that if a crime is committed, the crime has to be reported,” Harrison said.
Borsak remarked on the importance of the government having a policy that states men are men and women are women to prevent crimes from occurring—before they happen.
In response, Harrison said, “To us, if somebody identifies as a woman, then they should be free to use women’s change rooms, if somebody identifies as a man, they should feel free to use men’s change rooms.
“That does not mean that someone can perpetrate a crime or should perpetrate a crime—and we’re really strong on if there is a crime committed then we'll take action, it should be reported to police and police will take action.”
Harrison said she would have to look at stats for evidence on whether trans people were known to perpetrate crimes against women, saying the majority of people who pose a threat to women are men who identify as men.
