Why Australian lesbians are battling against gender self-ID

Australian lesbians are celebrating. An Administrative Review Tribunal had hitherto denied the Lesbian Action Group (LAG) an exemption from sex-discrimination legislation, which would allow its members to assemble without biological men present. Last week, this was struck down by the Federal Court. Justice Mark Moshinsky ruled that the tribunal had been wrong on two points of law and referred the case back to it.

‘There is not a single trans woman in Australia who wants to hang out with these dusty old losers’, responded one grumpy trans activist on learning of the win. But LAG is used to such sour grapes. The group has been fighting this case since 2023, after all. Its initial request to hold women-only events, excluding transwomen (men who identify as women), was rejected by the Australian Human Rights Commission. LAG then appealed to the Administrative Review Tribunal, which upheld the rejection and affirmed that the requested exemption should be refused. LAG then appealed to the Federal Court, which set aside the tribunal’s ruling. Though this is not the end of the road by any means (the tribunal now has to hear the case again with new judges), we can be cautiously optimistic that LAG will triumph.

Optimism is a rare commodity for Australian lesbians – and for Australian women in general, who have been reeling in dismay since the 2024 Federal Court ruling on Giggle vs Tickle. The now-infamous case centred on transwoman ‘Roxanne Tickle’, who was removed from the women-only social media app, Giggle, after being identified as a biological male. The court eventually found that Tickle had been unlawfully discriminated against, and ordered the app’s founder, Sall Grover, to pay thousands of dollars in damages. Such cases provide stark examples of gender self-ID in practice. Sex-discrimination laws applied in lower court rulings are increasingly interpreted through the doctrine of inclusion – meaning the category of ‘women’ now includes whichever men wish to belong to it.

On the other side of the world, Scottish women spent years expressing articulate rage against ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon over the same issue. Indeed, Sturgeon had defended the policy of putting men in women’s jails and refuges, as well as doing her level best to introduce gender self-ID in Scotland. Even so, perhaps Scottish women should breathe a sigh of relief that their country was led astray by the ambitious yet inept Sturgeon, rather than the far craftier Julia Gillard. As her parting shot on leaving office in 2013, the former Australian PM introduced gender identity as a legally protected characteristic and removed explicit biological sex definitions. This move left the door wide open for gender self-ID, elevating the comfort of men who ‘identify’ as women over the rights of actual women.

I have hope that LAG will win when its case is reheard. My fingers are also crossed that Sall Grover will eventually win her appeal against Roxanne Tickle, and all other men determined to violate women’s boundaries. It’s high time to rid Australia of the misogynistic rule of gender self-ID.

Bev Jackson is a co-founder and trustee of LGB Alliance. Follow her on Twitter: @BevJacksonAuth.