Clash between trans and women’s rights

The founder of a women’s only social networking app has found herself at the centre of a charged debate about the cross section of trans and women’s rights.

Sall Grover, founder of social network Giggle. Picture: Justine Walpole/TWAM

Sall Grover says she never expected to be in the middle of a charged and contentious debate. But she is.

It’s a battle between advocates for trans rights – who have said trans people suffer from high rates of abuse and assault, and are already marginalised – and advocates and lawyers for women’s rights – who say sex discrimination laws allow for “special measures” to promote women’s equality and exclude men.

Ms Grover, the founder of the female-only social networking app Giggle, has been accused of discriminating against a trans woman after she denied her access to the platform.

Roxanne Tickle, the Lismore-based trans woman, filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on January 20 this year. “The app provider appears to not recognise transgender women as female. I am legally permitted to identify as female,” her complaint stated.

The case was brought to the Federal Circuit Court, but was inexplicably dropped on Monday. Ms Grover welcomed the news on Wednesday, but may consider action to prevent a similar case from being brought against her in the future.

Ms Grover, who is about to give birth to her first child, said all she ever wanted to do was create an online “safe” space dedicated to women.

“I don’t care if you want to identify as a woman and live your life that way, I only care if you want to come into a female space,” she said in an interview for The Weekend Australian Magazine conducted before the case was dropped this week.

“I am not a gender feminist. I want no labels. I am just a woman.”

Sall Grover. Picture: Justine Walpole/TWAM

The now 37-year-old left her home on the Gold Coast to fulfil her dream of becoming a Hollywood rom-com screenwriter, following her studies in journalism, film and philosophy at Bond University. After a decade in the industry, when she witnessed misogyny and sexual abuse of women “pre #MeToo”, she came home and developed Giggle as an online space for women to share business ideas or discuss news.

Any new Giggle member must upload a profile picture which is screened by facial recognition technology to confirm they are female. Since it was launched in 2019, more than 20,000 women from 88 countries have joined.

“We have women in countries like Saudi Arabia or Orthodox Jewish women where female-only spaces are incredibly important. We have women who are recovering and dealing with trauma, and the space has significance to them in their healing,” she said.

She initially thought a small number of trans women might want to join Giggle and said they would be able to contact the company to join, but following early security breaches and accusations the app was transphobic the idea was shut down.

Since then, Ms Grover has maintained it should be available for biological women only.

She has received death threats and been called a trans exclusionary radical feminist (terf).

“It’s been hell,” she said. “It’s terrifying and I’ve had to navigate it all through nine months of pregnancy.”

Ms Tickle did not respond to a request for comment.