REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
BROMWICH J:
PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS
1 The applicant, Roxanne Tickle, by an originating application and amended statement of claim, sues the first respondent, Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd, and the second respondent, Sally (Sall) Grover, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Giggle, for alleged unlawful gender identity discrimination in the provision of services, contrary to s 22 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA). These reasons refer to Giggle and Ms Grover collectively as the respondents.
2 The topic of the gender identity of a person, as distinct from the sex that a person had or was assigned at the time of birth, is one that Roxanne Tickle regards as straightforward and supported by the SDA and other legislation, as well as international law, including treaties to which Australia is a party. The respondents regard only sex at birth as being a valid basis on which a person may claim to be a man or woman. The respondents do not accept that a person's sex can be a matter for self-identification. Correspondingly, they do not accept either the validity or legitimacy of the gender identity discrimination provisions of the SDA. This Court is confined to determining, only to the extent necessary, the validity, meaning and application of the SDA, including in particular whether there has been a contravention of the proscriptions on gender identify discrimination.
3 Roxanne Tickle was of the male sex at the time of birth, but is now recognised by an official updated Queensland birth certificate, issued under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2003 (Qld) (Qld BDM Registration Act), as being of the female sex. This followed from, and was predicated on, sexual reassignment surgery, being the term used in the Qld BDM Registration Act, which will be used in these reasons. Roxanne Tickle's updated birth certificate gives rise to an entitlement to be referred to by female pronouns. Accordingly, in these reasons I will refer to her as Ms Tickle.
4 The term cisgender features in Ms Tickle's amended statement of claim and appears in numerous places in these reasons, but does not appear in the SDA. As I noted in Tickle v Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd [2023] FCA 553 (Tickle v Giggle No 1) at [11], cisgender refers to a person whose gender corresponds to the sex registered for them at birth. That is to be contrasted with a person whose gender does not correspond with their sex as registered at birth, commonly
