Sall Grover has sought leave to file an appeal in the High Court.

The Federal Court found Sall guilty of discrimination and ordered her to pay Roxy Tickle $20,000. Tickle is a male who was excluded from Sall’s female only app Giggle.

A former Family Court judge, King’s Counsel Catherine Carew, has weighed in saying the decision was “an extraordinary overreach”.

In an opinion article published in The Australian, Ms Carew says: “One is left with the impression that the Court bent over backwards to achieve a particular outcome.”

“The adage, ‘hard cases make bad law’ is apt in this case,” says Ms Carew, who retired from the bench six weeks ago after 10 years on the Family Court.

The application for special leave was submitted last Friday.

In the application for special leave filed in the High Court, Ms Grover’s lawyers, barristers Ian Neil SC, Leigh Howard and Megan Blake, argue that Ms Tickle is not a woman within the meaning of s.7D of the Sex Discrimination Act.

They submit that Ms Grover’s exclusion of biological men from her app, even if they identify as women, is a “special measure” permitted under the act for the purpose of achieving equality between men and women.

They argue that the act consistently uses “men” and “women” exclusively to denote a person’s biological sex – that is, necessarily, their sex at birth, being one of only two binary ­possibilities. The words, they say, reflect a concept that is different from that of “gender identity”.

The act supports this contention because it refers to “women” in connection with pregnancy, potential pregnancy and breastfeeding, “all of which are circumstances that can only be experienced by women”.

Click here to watch Sall Grover explain seeking leave for her High Court appeal.