The Debate on Women-Only Spaces and Gender Identity

In this conversation, John chats with Giggle for Girls founder Sall Grover about her recent high-stakes Federal Court appeal concerning the right to operate a women-only social networking app. Grover warns that without clear sex-based protections, women’s rights to privacy, safety, and dignity in public and private spaces risk being dismantled.

The conversation explains why the ruling will not merely have ramifications for women's rights, but the fundamental freedoms of belief, association, and speech — principles essential to a free and democratic society. Grover also highlights the political reluctance to confront the issue, and the double standards of many Australian media outlets that have remained conspicuously silent in coverage of the case.

Sall Grover is the founder and CEO of Giggle, a female-only social networking app launched in 2020 to provide a secure platform for women to connect, collaborate, and support one another. Giggle has been at the centre of the recent landmark Federal Court case Tickle v Giggle, which tested the application of Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act to women-only spaces.