Binary Australia Raise More Than $250k For Anti-Trans Activist’s Legal Fees
Image: Binary/Facebook
Anti-trans group, Binary Australia, has raised more than $250,000 in legal funds to support spokeswoman Kirralie Smith’s High Court appeal after she was found to have unlawfully vilified two trans women.
In August, Smith and Binary Australia were found to have vilified two trans women in a series of social media posts, with a decision on the amount in damages and other orders owed to be handed down later this month. Smith and Binary are liable for $100,000 in damages for vilifying one woman, with Smith facing a further $100,000 for vilifying another.
Binary Australia, formerly known as anti-marriage equality group Marriage Alliance, pivoted from targeting same-sex marriage following the failure of the No campaign, and in 2018, began focusing their campaign on transgender rights. The group was listed as an “far-right hate and extremist group” by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism in 2022.
In an email sent to supporters on 4 November, Smith said that it had taken the contributions of more than 2500 supporters to meet the group’s initial goal of $263,000, which they were attempting to achieve before the end of October.
“I truly cannot express my gratitude to you enough,” Smith wrote. “You have bolstered my resolution and commitment to reinstating definitions of male and female back into law. You have made it possible for me to continue the fight and it is only a matter of time until we can celebrate a victory for reality and common sense together.
“The simple reality is men are not women. No human can change sex. No male should have access to women’s sport or changerooms [sic]. Taking publicly available information posted on football websites and Facebook pages, reposting it and asking why these males are participating in women’s competitions is not violence or vilification.”
Smith and Binary will receive the judgements on their penalties on 25 November, after which they will be able to appeal the motion.
In addition to more than $200,000 in damages, Smith and Binary Australia may be required to undergo anti-discrimination training, take down the posts that publicly identified the football players, and issue public apologies for misgendering them.
Smith guilty of “horrendous harassment online”
Following the ruling in August, Deputy Chief Magistrate Sharon Freund found that Smith and Binary Australia incited hatred and serious contempt for the women, who were targeted after playing football with their local clubs.
“These women were subjected to horrendous harassment online, including being publicly identified, outed and misgendered,” said Equality Australia Legal Director Heather Corkhill at the time.
“People who target vulnerable minorities to incite hatred and fear need to be called out and stopped. Smith and her supporters are out of step with the law, out of step with community values, and out of step with modern Australia.”
Deputy Chief Magistrate Freund also found that the vilification provisions under NSW law were valid and did not infringe the implied freedom of political communication under the Commonwealth Constitution.
The case marked the first time in NSW law that someone had been found to unlawfully vilify a person for being trans.
This isn’t the only legal issue Smith is tied up in.
Only a fortnight before her vilification hearing, Smith lost her appeal against a decision to put in place an apprehended personal violence order (APVO) to protect one of the players from further harassment and intimidation.
Judge Wass SC described Smith’s conduct as a “sustained campaign of belittling, harassment and intimidation” and “unnecessarily cruel.”
In an Binary Australia email in October, Smith said she was applying to the High Court for special leave to appeal the ruling.
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