Australia judge awards transgender woman $10k for gender discrimination claim against women-only app

An Australian judge on Friday awarded a transgender woman $10,000 for her claim of gender discrimination, finding she had been indirectly discriminated against by a women-only social media app.

Justice Bromwich rejected the woman’s claim of direct discrimination but found her claim of indirect discrimination on the basis of gender successful since the app imposed the condition that users have the appearance of a cisgender woman. The plaintiff also sought orders for a written apology, but Justice Bromwich declined to make those orders on the basis that any apology by the respondent would not be sincere.

Roxanne Tickle made a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in December 2021 under Section 22 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). She asserted that in being blocked from Giggle, an app marketed exclusively for women to share experiences and speak freely in a “safe space,” she was being discriminated against on account of her gender identity. 

Giggle founder Sall Grover said that Tickle was removed from the app “because they are male, no other reason.” Grover confirmed that Tickle’s removal was “manual,” saying that she looked at Tickle’s onboarding selfie and “saw a man.” She added, “The Al software had let them through, thereby making a mistake that I rectified.”

Tickle first downloaded Giggle in 2021. To access the app, users are required to upload a selfie to the platform, which is then assessed by third-party artificial intelligence (AI) software that determines whether the person is a man or a woman. If the software verifies that the user is a woman, she is granted full access to the app.

Tickle underwent this process and was provided with full access to the app between February 2021 and September 2021. After this period, the applicant found that she could no longer use any of the app’s features, such as posting content or commenting on other’s posts. She then received a ‘User Blocked’ message. Tickle attempted to contact the app’s owners about this issue, to which she received no response.

Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr. Anna Cody commended the case for recognizing that everyone deserves equal and fair treatment under the law, regardless of gender identity. Cody stated:

We must continue to recognise the worth and dignity of every person and reject the harmful stigmas and stereotypes that cause discrimination. No one in Australia should face exclusion or discrimination based on sex or gender identity, and we will continue to stand with trans communities and advocate for the rights of all women, including women who are trans.

This is the first case alleging gender identity discrimination to be heard by the Australian Federal Court.

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Algerian boxer and Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif filed a complaint on Saturday over online abuse following a controversial gender debate that made headlines during Paris’s Olympic Games.

Khelif’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, announced via a press release on the social media platform X that he filed a complaint with the anti-online hatred center of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office for acts of aggravated cyber harassment. Boudi stated that the criminal investigation aims to clarify who initiated and perpetuated the “misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign” against the boxer.

Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting became the subjects of significant controversy and online harassment after being allowed to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics despite being disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships New Dheli in 2023 for reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.

The IBA was previously stripped of its recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over concerns related to governance, finance and ethical matters. The IOC, however, cleared the two athletes for the Olympic Games, stating that all athletes in the boxing tournament complied with the relevant eligibility, entry and medical regulations, whilst also criticizing the IBA’s previous disqualifications.

Numerous human rights NGOs also heavily condemned the developments occurring online. The Sports & Rights Alliance urged for social media platforms to respect human rights whilst describing the online abuse directed towards the two Olympic boxers as “horrifying,” “unconscionable” and “unfounded.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed similar sentiments, supporting the IOC’s decision and condemning the so-called practice of “sex testing.” The NGO previously published a 127-page long report concerning human rights violations in “sex testing” of elite women athletes in 2020 by the sport governing body World Athletics, which primarily targeted women with elevated testosterone levels. The report provides a detailed account of how these practices violate the most fundamental rights, including the rights to privacy, dignity, health, non-discrimination, freedom from ill-treatment and employment. According to HRW, such regulations subject female athletes to unnecessary medical procedures carried out under coercive conditions, often making them the target of intense speculation and humiliation. In turn, HRW applauded the IOC’s new “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion, and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” for countering many of the harmful elements in previous sex-testing regulations.

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Le Secrétariat d’Etat aux migrations SEM recherche un/e: Conseiller/ère spécialisé/e Libre circulation des personnes – 80%-100% / Berne

La migration nous concerne
En tant que conseiller/ère spécialisé/e, vous aurez la chance de participer aux négociations avec l’UE sur l’accord sur la libre circulation des personnes, aux côtés d’une équipe dynamique.

Vos tâches

• Soutenir l’équipe de négociation en fournissant des analyses approfondies et des argumentaires sur des questions juridiques sélectionnées, en tenant compte du contexte des négociations avec l’UE en matière de politique intérieure et extérieure.

• Analyser la jurisprudence pertinente du Tribunal fédéral et de la Cour de justice des Communautés européennes.
• Participer à l’élaboration des documents en vue de l’approbation et de la mise en œuvre du résultat des négociations (consultation, message, ordonnances, instructions).
• Répondre aux questions juridiques liées à l’application de l’accord actuel sur la libre circulation des personnes.

Votre profil

• Diplôme universitaire (master) en droit, de préférence avec une spécialisation en droit européen ou en droit des migrations.

• Capacité de compréhension rapide et volonté de se familiariser rapidement avec de nouveaux domaines d’activité
• Joueur/se d’équipe avec de fortes capacités de communication, de conception et de rédaction ; capacité à penser en réseau et de manière interdisciplinaire
• Sens politique et intérêt pour la politique d’immigration de la Suisse
• Deux langues officielles et anglais

Informations complémentaires

Le poste est limité au 31 décembre 2025.

Pour de plus amples informations, veuillez contacter Mme Sarah Dubach, cheffe de la section Libre circulation des personnes, tél. +41 58 483 60 47.

Veuillez postuler via notre système de gestion des candidatures. Pour ce faire, veuillez cliquer sur «Pour postuler».

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La section Libre circulation des personnes est responsable de la mise en œuvre et du développement de l’accord sur la libre circulation des personnes entre la Suisse et l’UE.

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L’administration fédérale est attentive aux différents parcours de vie et besoins de ses collaboratrices et collaborateurs et en favorise la diversité. Elle accorde la plus haute priorité à l’égalité de traitement.

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US appeals court reinstates Iowa law banning books and restricting education about gender identity

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reinstated an Iowa law on Friday that law requires public school libraries to remove books that are not “age appropriate,” such as when they describe or depict “sex acts.” The law, SF 496, also forbids education about gender identity. A federal district judge previously enjoined those provisions, blocking their enforcement.

The appeals court vacated the district judge’s decision because he did not apply the correct analysis for facial challenges, which seek to block a law in all its applications, rather than as applied to the plaintiff. However, the plaintiffs in this case, which include an LGBT advocacy group, students, and teachers, may again request an injunction in the district court.

Yet, the appeals court noted that states, in defining public schools’ “pedagogical mission,” may limit expression, including what books libraries offer. The court added that judges ruling on such limitations should “bear in mind that Iowa is not required to tolerate speech that undermines or is inconsistent with its central mission of educating Iowa Children.”

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) celebrated the decision. She stressed that “it should be parents who decide when and if sexually explicit books are appropriate for their children.” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird also called the decision a victory.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), counsel for the plaintiffs, lamented that the law will now “take effect just before students go back to school.” But the organization also expressed hope, noting that the court rejected Iowa’s “most dangerous arguments” and that the plaintiffs will try to block the law again “at the earliest opportunity.”

Hot-button Iowa legislation has faced litigation in recent months. In July, a federal judge upheld the state’s six-week abortion ban. In May, civil rights groups sued to stop a criminal immigration law from going into effect. And in previous years, litigation ensued over the state’s limits on damages for victims of police brutality and mask-mandate bans.

Book bans over sexual or gender identity-related content are not unique to Iowa. A federal appellate court granted plaintiffs a victory in their challenge to Texas’s book ban. A district judge did the same in Arkansas. And Alabama and Idaho are considering similar bills, potentially giving rise to more litigation in the future.

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Custody ruling in same-sex case hailed as LGBTQ+ milestone in China

Woman wins visiting rights to see daughter, but not son, in first recognition that child can have two legal mothers

More: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/14/custody-ruling-in-same-sex-case-hailed-as-lgbt-milestone-in-china

US Supreme Court denies Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students from taking effect

The US Supreme Court on Friday denied the US government’s application to enforce a new Title IX rule that expands protections to LGBTQ+ students under the definition of “sex discrimination.”

The court unanimously agreed that federal court injunctions blocking three provisions in the Title IX rule related to gender identity should remain in effect while cases are decided at the federal appeals courts. The justices were split on whether the federal injunctions should be upheld fully or partially.

The five-justice majority denied the US government’s request and fully upheld the injunctions for several reasons. They found that the US government did not provide a sufficient basis to overturn the lower federal courts’ finding that the definitional changes to “sex discrimination” to include gender identity are “intertwined with and affect[t] many other provisions of the new rule.” The majority also held that the government did not indicate which other provisions of the rule are independent of “sex discrimination” and could be enforced. Finally, the court noted that the issue regarding the definition of “sex discrimination” will be decided shortly, with the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit scheduled to hear oral arguments in October.

Justice Sonia Sotomayer, writing for the dissent, would have partially upheld the injunctions. She found the preliminary injunctions to be overbroad because they prevented unrelated rules that protected other groups from taking effect. The dissent characterized the Title IX changes as “covering a range of discrimination matters, most of which do not reference gender identity discrimination.” Justice Sotomayer noted that the majority’s decision would prevent unchallenged protections “such as those governing preemployment inquiries about an applicant’s marital status or sex and prohibiting pregnancy discrimination,” which “include no reference to gender identity discrimination or hostile environment harassment,” from taking effect.

The ruling is the latest setback to the US Department of Education’s contentious Title IX interpretation, which follows US President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order on Title IX school protections. 26 states have now fully blocked the new Title IX protections from taking effect, and they will remain suspended until the merit of the injunctions is decided by the federal appeals courts. The next court hearings are the October oral hearings in the Sixth Circuit, a federal appeals court that hears appeals from the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The court will hear the federal government’s appeal of the Title IX injunction that was granted in Tennessee v. Cardona.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was landmark legislation that prohibited “sex-based discrimination” in schools or other education programs that received federal government funding. At the time of its enactment, gender identity and sexual orientation were not included in the definition, and the 2021 executive order and interpretation were actions to codify these protections for LGBTQ+ students.

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Bulgaria publishes law banning LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’ in schools

Bulgaria published a law which aims to ban “propaganda” about LGBTQ+ people in schools on Friday. The controversial law was passed by Parliament on August 8, and it was subsequently accepted by President Rumen Radev in Bulgaria’s State Gazette.

The law amends Bulgaria’s Preschool and School Education Act, the policy governing the country’s schools, to include language that forbids “propaganda” about “non-traditional sexual orientation.” It defines non-traditional sexual orientation that as:

Different from the generally accepted and embedded in the Bulgarian legal tradition concepts of emotional, romantic, sexual or sensual attraction between persons of opposite sexes.

The law was widely criticized by LGBTQ+ rights NGOs. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) condemned the bill, stating:

The proponents of the law, the Revival Party, and all those who voted in favour of the law claim that this is to protect young people, however the truth is that this is an attack on the rights of children, particularly LGBTI children.

The Bulgarian law was modelled after Russian and Hungarian laws restricting expression surrounding sexual orientation. Those laws were passed in 2013 and 2021 respectively. Human Rights Watch described Russia’s law as an “unabashed example of political homophobia.”

Bulgaria is 1 of 16 member states of the Council of Europe which do not recognize same-sex unions. In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights found the nonrecognition violates Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects Europeans’ private and family life. ILGA ranked Bulgaria 40th out of 49 European countries in terms of their treatment of LGBTA+ individuals.

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Thailand has become the 44^th member state of the Equal Rights Coalition, an intergovernmental agency tasked with advancing the rights of LGBTQ and intersex people across the world

Thailand is the first Asian country to join the international body, which also includes member states from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.

The Equal Rights Coalition was founded in 2016 under the leadership of Uruguay and the Netherlands to promote LGBTQ and intersex human rights, through forums and idea exchange with a particular focus on reducing violence and discrimination, ending criminalization of LGBTQ and intersex people, and including LGBTQ and intersex people in development projects.

Thailand has made great progress on LGBTQ rights in recent years, including legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption earlier this year, and introducing a government bill to facilitate legal gender change.

The ERC has worked to expand its own capacity this year, launching a secretariat hosted by ILGA-World in Geneva. 

More: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/08/05/out-in-the-world-lgbtq-news-from-europe-and-asia-36/

More: https://equalrightscoalition.org/

USA: Utah becomes the first state to ban a list of books from all schools: “Dystopian”

More: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/08/utah-becomes-first-state-to-ban-a-list-of-books-from-all-school-dystopian/

Breaking with Conservatism? – A Bolder Japanese Judiciary on the Rights of Sexual and Gender Minorities

See: https://verfassungsblog.de/japan-supreme-court-same-sex/