A tribunal will review the claim of Tasmanian woman Jessica Hoyle that a Target store banned her over her ‘transgender views’. Hoyle is appealing the rejection of a complaint she made to Equal Opportunity Tasmania.
Jessica Hoyle claims the incident occurred when she attended a Target store in Launceston. She said she wore clothing that featured the logo of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Tasmania, an anti-trans group. According to both Hoyle and other witnesses, she spoke to two other shoppers about ‘the need for female-only lesbian events’ and specifically female toilets, rather than gender-neutral.
Hoyle says a non-binary staff member called her a TERF and asked her to leave the store.
“I was directed to leave the store because I was wearing clothing that indicated my sexual orientation and because the staff member intruded on a private conversation with an accusation that I held a political belief — that men who identify as women are not female — with which they did not agree.”
Target denied many of the allegations.
Anti-discrimination commissioner Sarah Bolt rejected Hoyle’s complaint on August 31. She said it seemed staff asked Hoyle to leave the store because of her 5-10 minute discussion with two other people about ‘the need for female-only spaces and female-only lesbian events’.
The commissioner said the staff member who overheard the conversation considered it discriminatory.
Jessica Hoyle appealed the decision resulting in a tribunal review.
Old-fashioned homosexuals
The Australian quoted Hoyle as saying, “Target… seems to have a problem with old-fashioned homosexuals like myself.”
A Target spokesperson said the company prides itself on “fostering an inclusive environment for all our team members and customers so that everyone can feel respected and safe.”
In 2021, Hoyle failed in a bid to gain an exemption from the Anti-discrimination commissioner to hold a ‘female-only’ drag king event.
She has since raised over $4000 on a fundraising platform for further legal action over the issue. She claims the matter may reach the High Court.
Read also: Anti-trans penis-shaped stickers posted around Hobart.
For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
I am a proud member of the LGBTQI+ community.
It is, and always has been, a broad Church inclusive of all our members.
In my opinion if this cohort of lesbians cannot support this inclusivity, then it is they who do not belong.
What are they proposing? Genital checks before admission into these events.
Will butch dykes also have to prove they don’t have a penis?
It is in the not too distant past debate questioned whether lesbians were “real women” at all.
Why is it mainly trans women facing this discrimination from within our community?
I have yet to see an example of gay men seeking to exclude trans men.
I am a lesbian. I also identify as non binary. I absolutely Hate anything labelled women only. Trans women are real women. The majority of these spaces and events are exclusionary to trans and non binary folks. Get rid of gender specific spaces.