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What is a woman? I mean, I know – and I’m sure you do too.

But a recent court ruling confirms that, legally in Australia, biological sex is largely meaningless.

In the Tickle v Giggle case, the Full Federal Court ruled against a women-only app (Giggle for Girls) that excluded a biological male (Tickle) who identifies as female.

The case was ostensibly about one social media app. In reality, it was about something much larger.

This situation did not arise overnight.

In The Lord of the Rings, King Theoden asks: “How did it come to this?”

Bizarrely, many MPs seemed to discover this issue by way of media commentary on Tickle v Giggle last week.

But people’s memories are short, especially when it comes to “culture war” issues that are so easily ignored or dismissed.

In 2013, the dying months of the Gillard Labor Government saw it amend the Sex Discrimination Act to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” protections.

At the time, few Australians understood the long-term implications of the changes.

I remember it well but, just like the marriage debate in 2017, those who tried to warn about these things called “consequences” were drowned out.

Now, more than a decade later, we are seeing the ticking legal time bombs detonate.

The Court has effectively confirmed that, under current federal law, biological sex is increasingly subordinate to gender identity ideology.

That obviously has enormous implications for:

– women’s spaces;
– female sport;
– change rooms and refuges;
– freedom of association;
– and even our ability to speak plainly about biological reality.

Most Australians would be compassionate towards people experiencing gender dysphoria.

But compassion should never require society to deny reality.

Nor should women and girls be expected to surrender hard-won protections because activists insist that biological sex is merely “assigned at birth” – a term actually used in the Sex Discrimination Act – or socially constructed.

Ideas DO have consequences.

And when ideology overtakes common sense in law, ordinary people eventually pay the price.

Importantly, this debate is no longer confined to activists, academics, or the courts.

Following the decision, senior political figures have already called for change. Both the Coalition and One Nation have been vocal.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has pledged to insert a definition of biological sex into the Act.

This is all encouraging and welcome.

But let’s call a spade a spade.

MPs can either fix this situation or not. 

No legal change will solve things if MPs still shy away from upsetting activists. Not only should biological sex be defined in law, but the Act’s gender language should be junked entirely to keep this from courts in future.

There is also no reason to make this issue a future “election promise”. 

A bill should be put NOW, as some MPs have indicated they will. Whether a bill passes or not, MPs should TRY. If nothing else, it will further sort the wheat from the chaff ahead of the next election.

I pay credit here, by the way, to Liberal Senator Alex Antic and Nationals Senator (now Leader) Matt Canavan, who actually tried to fix this problem last year.

Their desire to change the Act has now been vindicated.

Even now, though, many politicians will only act if enough people knock on their door – physically or digitally.

That’s why the Australian Family Coalition is urging you to contact your local MP and senators NOW.

We must urge them to support amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act that:

– define sex biologically;
– protect lawful single-sex spaces for women and girls;
– are necessary for freedom of speech and association;
– and restore common sense to Australian law.

CLICK HERE to email your federal MP and senators.

You can use our suggested wording or use your own. The process only takes 2 minutes.

Parliament created this mess 13 years ago. Parliament can now fix it.

But now it’s up to us.

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Republished with thanks to The Australian Family Coalition. Image courtesy of Unsplash.