Transgender woman loses lawsuit against estheticians who refused to wax her male genitalia
A human rights tribunal in British Columbia has ruled against a transgender woman who said she was refused wax services at more than a dozen beauty salons.
According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, Jessica Yaniv identifies as female, but has male genitalia. Yaniv contacted the businesses via Facebook messages requesting appointments for a Brazilian wax — the service that removes most or all female pubic hair.
Estheticians who appeared at the hearing testified they declined to wax Yaniv for several reasons, including religious grounds, personal safety concerns and lack of training when it came to male genitals.
The tribunal ruled Tuesday that “human rights legislation does not require a service provider to wax a type of genitals they are not trained for and have not consented to wax,” the CBC reported.
Canadian Court Rules against Transgender Activist Jessica Yaniv in Fight with Beauticians over Waxing https://t.co/xm0uXmIDni pic.twitter.com/b6hivo7skH
— Jairo Rodriguez (@RealtorJairo) October 23, 2019
A waxing expert testified during the trial that waxing male genitalia required different training than performing the service on female genitalia, adding that someone untrained in waxing male genitalia could seriously injure the client.
“Self-identification does not erase physiological reality,” said Jay Cameron of the Justice Centre. “No woman should be compelled to touch male genitals against her will, irrespective of how the owner of the genitals identifies.”
Read the CBC’s full story here.
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