Kirralie Smith, an Australian anti-trans campaigner, has been fined and ordered to issue a public apology after she was found guilty in August for targeting online harassment of two transgender women who play football. Smith posted about the two women from 2022 through 2024, including pictures of them, their names, and where they and their teams could be found.

“These women were subjected to horrendous harassment online, including being publicly identified, outed and misgendered,” said Heather Corkhill, Legal Director of Equality Australia, in an August statement. “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.”

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Smith is the spokeswoman for the anti-trans group Binary Australia, which claims that there is a “biological reality that there are two complementary sexes. Equal, but different.” She has previously pushed for a pause to gender-affirming healthcare and a federal inquiry into trans healthcare in general.

In January 2023, after finding pictures of the women at their football clubs, Smith posted on social media asking for men to help with “the bloke playing on the women’s team.” She also took a group of men dressed as women to the area and filmed them playing football as part of her harassment. She claimed that one of the women had injured and hospitalized two female players in a match, but later revealed in court that she had no evidence to substantiate her claim.

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Earlier this year, one of the women involved received an Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO) —Australia’s version of a restraining order — against Smith, ruling that Smith could not assault, threaten, stalk, harass, intimidate, approach, or contact her or the football clubs in question. The APVO was approved with the justice saying that Smith’s actions were “ongoing behaviors which were objectively threatening.”

Smith appealed the APVO at the New South Wales Supreme Court and lost.

In August, a court ruling found that Smith had “unlawfully vilified” the two women, with the magistrate saying that Smith’s posts were “capable of inciting serious contempt.”

While Smith tried to argue that her posts and comments were protected as political speech, that claim was ignored, with the magistrate saying that that they were “disproportionate” and not made in good faith.

The decision on Smith’s penalties this week comes after a failed appeal, and includes paying $55,000 in Australian dollars ($36,505 in U.S. dollars) to one of the women and $40,000 ($26,548) to the other. She is also required to post an apology to all social media pages that she controls, pinning it to the top where possible.

Smith has made it clear that she will once again appeal the decision and has shown contempt for the ruling on social media. She has added “Guilty of ‘unlawful vilification’ for identifying males in female sport” to her X bio likea badge of honor, and has posted about the decisions, suggesting they are impinging her free speech. She has shown no remorse in her recent posts.

It is unclear whether the fine will have much impact on Smith. A previous crowdfunding campaign raised $250,000 for her legal fees, and commenters on her social media posts have pledged to support her financially.

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