An Australian Lesbian Group Wants to Exclude Trans Women. A Court Just Sent the Case Back.

For the third time in three years, a small Melbourne-based group called the Lesbian Action Group is trying to secure a legal right to exclude transgender women from its public events. On April 15, they got their closest thing to a win yet — though what they actually won is more limited than headlines might suggest.

Federal Court Justice Mark Moshinsky set aside a previous Administrative Review Tribunal decision that had denied LAG’s application for a five-year exemption to Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act. The matter has been sent back to the tribunal for reconsideration.

That’s it. No exemption has been granted. No court has ruled that excluding trans women from lesbian events is lawful or justified. What happened is that a judge found legal errors in the tribunal’s reasoning and said the case deserves a fresh look.

But in the ongoing, emotionally charged debate about who belongs in LGBTQ+ spaces, even procedural rulings land with force.

Three attempts, no exemption

The Lesbian Action Group — a group of roughly 15 members, according to reporting by PinkNews — first applied for an exemption through the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2023. That application was rejected. They then appealed to the Administrative Review Tribunal, which dismissed the case, ruling that “overt acts of discrimination” should not be permitted.

LAG appealed that tribunal decision to the Federal Court, which is where things now stand. Justice Moshinsky found that the tribunal had made errors in its legal reasoning — specifically, in how it interpreted and applied the exemption provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act. He did not weigh in on whether the exemption should ultimately be granted.

The case now returns to the tribunal for a do-over.

What LAG is asking for

The group wants a temporary exemption that would allow it to hold public events exclusively for lesbians who were assigned female at birth. That means excluding trans women, as well as — notably — bisexual women, depending on how the group defines its membership criteria.

LAG has argued that its members need spaces free from what it describes as male socialization and that the presence of trans women fundamentally changes the nature of lesbian-only gatherings. The group has ties to the LGB Alliance Australia, an organization that has been widely criticized by mainstream LGBTQ+ advocacy groups for its opposition to trans rights.

The response from trans advocates

Equality Australia, which intervened in the case, emphasized that the ruling was narrow. “This is a technical win on two points of legal process,” said legal director Heather Corkhill. “It is not a ruling on whether excluding trans women is lawful or justified.”

Trans advocates have consistently argued that exemptions like the one LAG seeks would set a dangerous precedent — not just for trans women, but for the principle that anti-discrimination law should protect, not carve out exceptions to, equality.

The case also raises uncomfortable questions within the LGBTQ+ community itself. The idea that some lesbians want to exclude trans women from lesbian spaces is not new, but the legal formalization of that exclusion — through a mechanism designed to permit what would otherwise be unlawful discrimination — pushes the debate into sharper territory.

Why this matters beyond Australia

Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act includes provisions that allow organizations to apply for temporary exemptions in certain circumstances. The question of whether a lesbian group qualifies — and whether excluding trans women serves a legitimate purpose — is being watched internationally.

In the UK, the Supreme Court’s recent definition of “woman” as referring to biological sex has emboldened groups seeking similar carve-outs. In the United States, religious exemption cases have tested similar boundaries from a different angle. The LAG case sits at the intersection of anti-discrimination law, identity politics, and the ongoing struggle to define who counts as part of the community.

For trans women, the stakes are concrete: being told, through legal mechanisms, that you don’t belong in a community you’ve long considered your own.

For the lesbian community, the case surfaces real tensions — about identity, safety, and autonomy — that resist easy resolution.

What happens next

The Administrative Review Tribunal will now reconsider LAG’s exemption application from scratch, applying the legal framework as clarified by the Federal Court. There’s no timeline yet for when that hearing will take place.

Whatever the tribunal decides, further appeals are almost certain. This case is not going away quietly.