Ele Ludemann: Women’s rights vs men’s demands

It’s still International Women’s Day in some parts of the world.

There are still people who believe their feelings about their gender can trump biological facts.

There are still people who risk their jobs if they question gender ideology.

But there are also people fighting back, among them is Sall Grover:

The founder of a female-only app who lost a landmark ‘what is a woman’ case is now taking her fight to the United Nations, calling on the global body to intervene with the Australian government.

Sall Grover, who founded Giggle, an online platform for women, has lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), challenging the Australian government over a Federal Court ruling that found ‘sex is changeable’.

Ms Grover had banned transgender woman Roxanne Tickle, 54, from her app in 2021, arguing it was for women and Ms Tickle was biologically male.

Biologically is redundant in that sentence, male suffices.

Ms Tickle had identified as a woman since 2017, undergoing surgery two years later and getting a new birth certificate that lists her sex as female.

Her is the wrong pronoun in that sentence. Surgery and changes to a birth certificate do not change someone’s sex.

In September, Justice Robert Bromwich found Ms Tickle had suffered indirect discrimination, ordering Ms Grover to pay $10,000 in damages – a small fraction of the $200,000 that was being sought – and to cover legal costs.

The ‘Tickle vs Giggle’ case made global headlines because it is one of the first times the question of ‘what is a woman’ has been tested in the courts, with the judge sensationally ruling that ‘sex is changeable’.

If that is right in law, the law is wrong. Some things are immutable and sex is one of them.

Ms Grover, 40, is appealing that decision and is prepared to go all the way to the High Court.

But her case now has global ramifications following her complaint to the UNHRC as she seeks to challenge the court ruling that has effectively erased the legal recognition of sex as a protected category in Australia.

The mother-of-one said the ruling had already set a dangerous precedent, with the banning of female-only lesbian events.

‘This is not a culture war; this is about the fundamental human rights of women and girls,’ Ms Grover said.

‘Women fought for generations to have spaces free from male presence – whether in crisis shelters, prisons, sports, or social networks.

‘That right has now been stripped away by an activist legal interpretation that compels women to accept men in female-only spaces and punishes them for objecting. That is not progress; that is oppression.’

Ms Grover alleged that her case is not an isolated one and that major institutions, such as the Australian Human Rights Commission, had been ‘captured’ by transgender ideology at the expense of women.

‘These institutions have redefined sex-based protections without public consultation, prioritising gender identity over the material reality of sex,’ she added...... 

People do not have to conform to gender norms. They can act as they want to, dress as they wish, deport themselves as they choose. But their right to do any or all of that cannot come at the expense of other people’s rights.

This is a fight for the dignity and safety of girls and women.

This is a fight that pits science and reality against feelings and ideology.

This is a fight between women’s rights and men’s demands.

Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.