Women-only social media app Giggle for Girls taken to court by transgender woman Roxanne Tickle after her account was restricted
Women-only social media app Giggle for Girls taken to court by transgender woman Roxanne Tickle after her account was restricted
Social media platform Giggle for Girls is being sued by transgender woman Roxanne Tickle after her access to the women-only app was revoked. The app's owner has denied Ms Tickle is a woman.
- In short: Transgender woman Roxanne Tickle is suing social media platform Giggle for Girls after she was excluded from the women-only app.
- She is alleging unlawful discrimination on the basis of gender identity while the app's founder has denied she is a woman.
- What's next? The hearing is expected to run for four days.
A transgender woman who was excluded from a women-only social media app should be awarded damages because the app's founder has persistently denied she is a woman, a Sydney court has heard.
In February 2021, Roxanne Tickle downloaded the Giggle for Girls social networking app, which was marketed as a platform exclusively for women to share experiences and speak freely.
Users needed to provide a selfie, which was assessed by artificial intelligence software to determine if they were a woman or man.
Ms Tickle's photograph was determined to be a woman and she used the app's full features until September that year, when the account became restricted because the AI decision was manually overridden.
I have nothing to add, just amused by the fact that a Tickle can’t get a giggle.
Hahah beat me to it, that scene played in my head as soon as I read the name.
congratulations sir, you won this thread! :)
I don't understand.
It's okay to discriminate against men but not transgender women?
While I certainly agree with you that discrimination based on sex is unacceptable im most contexts, I believe that gender exclusive spaces, unless they hinder people directly, sometimes are a good thing.
My dad is a mental health professional and founded a weekly 'only-men' self help group. He found that some things they talked about there wouldn't have worked with women involved. That group existed for about 5 years or so and helped quite a few struggling men.
So yeah, unless there's any maliciousness involved, I'd argue that gender exclusiity is not bad in every context.
I remember back in high school I had a teacher in an all male classroom because it was a stem field but for kids like an introductory course. A girl showed up in the 2nd year and he sort of joked about how it changes the dynamic cuz now all the guys will need to flex for her so the point of the class was sort of ruined. I remember that class was actually fucking amazing because you would make friends with guys regardless of your social circle or wealth background. Like I talked to multiple demographics and we all treated each other equally and we were all there to learn the trade. It was an amazing experience that I've never found anywhere else, especially not any circle where there were women. Hell even guys who were in that class there were a few if you met them outside the class it was just different. I made some close friends there where we kept spending time together outside the class that I otherwise would not have met but others when they got back to "the rest of the world" that hierarchy set back in and they couldn't bring themselves to talk to you on that level anymore. Women invading male safe spaces under the guise of glass ceilings or whatever was extremely toxic for men, it's as if men started barging into women's bathrooms honestly saying it's a glass ceiling to their right to stare at women in their own private moments. Stupid example but it's all I could come up with.
The point is I would love to find another environment like that and even I wish I looked for more like that as a kid and to have appreciated it for what it was more at the time. Men need to learn to see each other as brothers and not as opposition, that's the only way we get out of this mess is to unionize properly. I think we had it once but we lost it because of this fucking propaganda painting men as inherently predators.
Seems like you do understand it.
But fear not, if you want a website full of only men there are plenty out there.
I'm not familiar with discrimination laws in Australia. In the US there are exceptions in the Civil Rights Act (1964) for "private clubs" though I don't think courts have consistently defined what that means.
I'm very curious to hear how this case turns out under Australian law. Personally I think it's counterproductive to exclude trans women from a women-only social club. But if a US court ruled this social club was in fact a "private club" then they could legally discriminate in whatever way they desire, be that by excluding men or trans women.
Your account is a day old so I’m thinking you’re arguing in bad faith and are likely transphobic.
🥱
Trans women are women.
Real /r/unpopularopinion moment.
I think the thing that the TERFs ultimately miss is that this person was initially welcomed in as a woman and treated as a woman by her peers. She did not disrupt the community or harass any of the participants, until she voiced support for Trans Rights.
It was at this point that a handful of moderators decided to interrogate her on her original gender and use that as an excuse to boot an active and in-good-standing member.
So she wasn't removed for "not being a woman". She was removed for "disagreeing with the political views of the admin".
Anyone familiar with Reddit politics should be able to sympathize.
Why not just create a "trans" app and make your own people happy too?
Not even a separate app, just add a tick box for people who are trans-inclusive.
Sounds like a good idea to me.
Discriminating against men is based on gender, discriminating against trans women is based on sex (at birth).
Wow an app based on gender descrimination is being sued for gender descrimination. I'm shocked
You know what this means though? It means that no one ever needed to push back against it at all just not engage in it themselves. Cuz they just eat each other in a vacuum. Without some enemy to band together against like the boogeyman of boogeymen whitey, their inner chaos is all they're left with with no enemy to project it on, so they eat each other and everything just crashes and falls apart. No one needed to do anything, not even complain, just look at it in amusement and take another sip of their coffee and go about their day thanking god that's not you.
Wanna know how I know y'all suck?
Tickle is taking on Giggle for Girls and not one witty joke?
There's low hanging fruit, and then there's the shit on the ground that wild animals eat to get drunk.
Which is still a good time for us animals. :P
You misspelled "dog eating its own poop"
Something something tickle my pickle while I giggle.
well shit maybe making a good joke about this is harder than we first assumed
This thread was fated to be a dumpster fire from the instant it was created
Edit: 6 people dont seem to understand what an unholy combination it is to merge: Transphobia, Misandry, AI, and somewhat silly names on the internet
I'll explain my down-vote as per your edit: people don't like thread meta discussions. It's unproductive, mean and frankly just lazy. Keep that on reddit.
I'm not familiar with Australian law, but how do you get to "discrimination on the basis of gender identity" in this case. Wouldn't the case for that be a trans man trying to join or stay on the app? (Or a cis man for that matter).
It sounds like Tickle's position is that the app should be discriminating based on gender identity. Her complaint seems more like them discriminating on (vaguely defined policy ammounting to) assigned gender at birth.
Having said that, I suspect their tune will change if a trans man tried joining.
Having said that, I suspect their tune will change if a trans man tried joining.
Exactly this. I fucking guarantee they wouldn't let a trans man join and actively contribute.
Idk. I think a big point of the app is to discuss growing up female. Nothing against trans women, and I Believe trans women are women, but as a cis woman, I think I'd have more in common talking about my past with a trans male than with a trans female. We'd have similar stories of being treated a certain way growing up.
Discrimination based on gender identity is basically saying I have been treated differently due to being transgender. She is saying that she as a transgender woman is being treated differently to a cisgender woman. Or that is at least how it works in the UK. I would presume Australia is similar
You can get your sex changed on your birth certificate in NSW according to Wikipedia. Not a lawyer, but I'm gonna guess the app is shit-out-of-luck on this one if their birth certificate indicates they're a woman.
Wait. We’re unironically calling social media for women Giggle and then we’re surprised it might be sexist? April first was like a week ago…
Ms Tickle’s photograph was determined to be a woman and she used the app’s full features until September that year, when the account became restricted because the AI decision was manually overridden.
I'd love to know the story behind the manual overriding.
Apparently she defended trans people in a conversation, someone complained, and moderators got involved and manually overrode the ai. Paraphrased hearsay.
If the AI is the good guy in a situation, you gotta be doing something very wrong.
I think she will win this. They didn't require a genital photo so what's even their proof? Arbitrary requirement anyways. Rules like that only leave people out. I understand the want for a space like that though. I hope this woman finds a space where she can feel safe.
Why not create an app for trans women?
I think she'll lose. Because regardless of the issue, a private company can terminate service at any time, for any reason.
It's also been upheld that a graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples. What this means is, again, a company can pick and choose who to serve.
The case in the OP is in Australia. Your story is from the US and has absolutely zero bearing on any likely outcome.
This case is being heard in Sydney, Australia not the US so a case from the US is not relevant in determining the outcome
I mean, given what's happening with the women's only art exhibit at the MONA right now, this woman definitely has a legal leg to stand on even with this being a private company.
Even if it's just a matter of false advertising (if the app means cis women they should say cis women, not say "women" and then go out of their to exclude an entire group of women) or compensation for being given access then having access removed.
What I found most interesting about that case is she was arguing that Christianity was homophobic and got the Supreme Court to agree with her.
It was a bit of a floor dropping out from underneath me moment when I figured that out. How many years have I pointed out that being LGBT and a follower of Christ are inconsistent, and if you are LGBT with Christian friends you are their project? No one listens to me. And here one of them goes, spends all this effort and time, and manages to convince the court system that yes being a religious Christian means that you hate gay people.
I doubt I have convinced anyone of this in my entire life, she made it an officially recognized fact. And this event will never be untrue since it did happen! For as long as records exist we will have a record of the moment where the US government agreed with me about what Christianity believes.
a private company can terminate service at any time, for any reason
Not after they've accepted payment.
you dont have to put on the red light
those days are over
Now make "Guffaw for Guys" lol
Welcome to 2024, women can't have their own things anymore... (and I'm talking about REAL women, you know, the individuals have two X chromosomes).
Time to identify as a cis lesbian and not as a trans woman.
How does that even work?
I mean, to be a cis lesbian also implies being a cis woman....
people actually don't have a job
It sounds like you’re trying to argue nobody should fight discrimination while there are still ditches to dig and toilets to scrub.
What’s the point of a woman’s only app (or any women’s only space) if they let anyone in simply based on them saying ‘I’m a woman’?
Dude, there's like four sentences and they're all on this page and it says it takes an AI assessed picture of your face to determine if you're a woman. Why are people so fucking lazy and snarky?
The question you have to ask here is “if anyone can just sign up then how was she noticed, and if they spend any time verifying then how did they not realize she was very serious about her womanhood?”. She’s had gender-affirming surgery and you’re really out here saying “if they let anyone in simply based on them saying ‘I’m a woman’?”.
They’re clearly doing some work here and not doing it very well. And you’re missing very important facts.
Maybe because everything about the space still caters to women's concerns, and the presumption for a random-ass social media app should be that your appearance doesn't determine your intent? If somebody's daily life is being a woman, then why the fuck should it matter which parts they have? Are you also going to exclude gay women, or women who cut their hair short, or women who choose not to have kids? After all, they're not having all the same issues that long-haired cis-het mothers have.
Not to mention it's a technologically stupid gate to keep. In what fucking world does it deter anyone who is willing to be dishonest?
Sexism.
You can still be sexist without an app. It is a great leveler in humanity. No effort at all to hate someone for whatever reason you want whenever you want.
A waste of everyone's time. Sounds like entitlement.
This is funny when you just look at your profile's first page and see you've made comments like these:
I hate this rhetoric. It implies that this a refular occurence. It is just a man hating comment. If this is happening to you frequently, maybe you are the problem. I am tired of being assumed an asshole just because I am a man. It is sexist. Plain and simple.
So you deny "unproblematic" women regularly experiencing unsafe behavior from men who are entitled and you're also denying people's gender identity - otherwise, why would it be a waste of time for a woman's fight for her right to access women's spaces? So you're hateful towards people you perceive to be "men" while complaining about "man haters" elsewhere. Logical inconsistencies in favor of hate is a hallmark sign of right wing extremist views.
That is some fancy mental gymnastics you came up with there. My comment before has absolutely nothing to do with this article. The fact that you went through my comment history to find a marginal strawman just goes to show you are trying to be argumentative. You can disagree with me all you want, it doesn't mean you're correct. In fact, nobody's opinion can be correct.
It's entitled to exclude.