Lesbian Action Group can now EXCLUDE transgender women from its events after dramatic court ruling
The Federal Court has cleared the way for a lesbian activist group to push ahead with plans to bar transgender women from its public events for the next five years, overturning a series of earlier rulings.
In a decision set to reignite Australia’s culture wars, the court allowed an appeal by the Lesbian Action Group (LAG), a Melbourne-based organisation that argues lesbian spaces should be restricted to women who were assigned female at birth.
LAG had sought a special exemption from the Sex Discrimination Act, allowing it to host women‑only events that exclude transgender women without breaching federal anti‑discrimination laws.
The group’s has had two failed bids in the past, with the Australian Human Rights Commission rejecting its initial application in 2023, and the Administrative Review Tribunal later dismissing an appeal.
This time, the Federal Court took a different view, allowing LAG’s appeal and opening the door for the exemption to be reconsidered.
LAG hailed the outcome as a major victory, declaring the ruling a ‘win’ for lesbian visibility and autonomy.
Equality Australia however have played down the decision, insisting it was largely procedural and simply meant the original decision must now be remade.
The matter will return to the tribunal at a later date.
The Lesbian Action Group (above) has won its appeal to ban transgender women from its public events
LAG said the ruling upheld women’s ‘right to say no to forcing males into female and lesbian spaces’ (pictured are LAG members outside court on Wednesday)
LAG spokeswoman Nicole Mowbray told The Australian the Federal Court’s ruling upheld women’s ‘right to say no to forcing males into female and lesbian spaces’.
‘Since about the early 2000s there’s been no consultation, no negotiation, and we haven’t consented to it,’ she said.
‘We’re happy for trans people, heterosexual people, to do their own thing. We respect their space and their right to do what they want to do.
‘What are we asking is for our right to our own space to be respected. We’re happy to come together in mixed sex space.’
Wednesday’s decision is likely to affect other cases brought under the Sex Discrimination Act, including that of Tickle vs. Giggle – which is currently before the Federal Court.
Sall Grover, who founded Giggle – an online platform for women, was found to have ‘indirectly discriminated’ against transgender woman Roxanne Tickle during a landmark ‘what is a woman’ case in August 2024.
Ms Tickle has identified as a woman since 2017, undergoing surgery two years later and obtaining a new birth certificate that lists her sex as female.
Ms Grover had banned the 54-year-old from her app in September 2021, arguing it was for women and Ms Tickle was biologically male.
The ruling is likely to affect other cases brought under the Sex Discrimination Act, including that Sall Grover (above) who founded Giggle, an online platform for women
Ms Grover is fighting to appeal the 2024 ruling.
She welcomed the Federal Court’s decision on Wednesday, telling Daily Mail the Australian Human Rights Commission needed to hear considerations for women and lesbians ‘for a long time’.
‘A transgender woman lesbian is a heterosexual man,’ Ms Grover said.
‘When you understand that, it becomes very clear that heterosexual men should have no place at a lesbian event nor should it be discrimination to exclude them.
‘No man is a lesbian, and any man who wants access to a lesbian event is a walking talking red flag.
‘Hopefully the Australian Human Rights Commission remembers they’re a commission for all Australians, not just the ones who believe in gender ideology.’
