An Australian woman has been ordered to pay $95,000 for “unlawfully vilifying” two male soccer players who compete in women’s teams.
In August, New South Wales Deputy Chief Magistrate Sharon Freund convicted Kirralie Smith of unlawfully vilifying the players by referring to them as males and suggesting they posed a threat to actual women on the playing field.
The ruling marked the first instance under NSW law where someone was found to have unlawfully vilified a person for being trans.
Smith, a spokeswoman for Binary Australia, a campaign group advocating for single-sex sports in Australia, raised public awareness about male players competing in women’s divisions after learning of injuries sustained by female athletes.
Under Football New South Wales’ Gender Diversity Policy, gender-diverse players are supported to play in safe and inclusive environments. However, this has led to men competing in women’s teams, including the Flying Bats—a team that has at least five male members and went undefeated in 2024 with a record of scoring 76 goals across 17 matches while allowing only eight goals.
In 2022, one of the Flying Bats’ male players injured a female opponent by breaking her leg in two places.
Smith previously referred to Nicholas “Stephanie” Blanch on social media as a “bloke in a frock,” citing a photo of Blanch wearing a dress. She also claimed that a male player injured two female soccer players and noted that Justin “Riley” Dennis, the top goal scorer in the NSW Women’s League One First Grade, is male.
Smith launched a letter-writing campaign with over 12,000 letters to Football New South Wales, arguing the league fails to safeguard women and girls. A court granted an Apprehended Personal Violence Order against Smith for alleged transphobic remarks. Smith was subsequently ordered to pay Nicholas “Stephanie” Blanch $55,000 and Justin “Riley” Dennis $40,000, with a $40,000 penalty for noncompliance.
Smith has 28 days to appeal the decision and stated: “It is disappointing that the word ‘woman’ has been redefined to include males and that the words ‘violence’ & ‘vilification’ have been applied to speaking the truth about information in the public domain. The law might state men can be women, but it defies the laws of nature and cannot be sustained.”
