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Estheticians cansa国际传媒檛 be forced to wax male genitals, B.C. tribunal rules

Langley transgender woman Jessica Yaniv was ordered to pay three salon owners $2,000 each
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Jessica Yaniv speaks at a Langley Township council meeting in the spring of 2019. (Screengrab)

Warning: This article may offend some readers

The BC Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a transgender womansa国际传媒檚 complaints in a case about genital waxing that drew worldwide media attention.

Jessica Yaniv alleged that various Lower Mainland salons discriminated against her when they refused to provide her with waxing services, on the basis of gender identity and expression.

Yaniv had requested arm or leg waxing in two cases. In five others, she requested scrotum waxing, which the salon employees refused.

The tribunal did not agree that gender expression means intimate grooming services must be provided.

sa国际传媒淚n the genital waxing cases, I find that scrotum waxing was not a service customarily provided by the respondents,sa国际传媒 wrote tribunal member Devyn Cousineau in the decision. sa国际传媒淎s such, they did not deny Ms. Yaniv a service and did not discriminate against her.sa国际传媒

The decision went on to say there is no difference between arm and leg waxing for men and women. But instead of reprimanding the salons for that, Cousineau said Yaniv filed the complaints for sa国际传媒渋mproper purposessa国际传媒 sa国际传媒 namely, the to target small businesses for financial gain.

Yaniv had targeted female salon employees, mostly minorities, often speaking English as a second language, who worked alone out of their homes or their clientssa国际传媒 homes, the decision said.

sa国际传媒淢s. Yaniv has engaged in a pattern of filing human rights complaints which target small businesses for personal financial gain and/or to punish certain ethnic groups, which she perceives as hostile to the rights of LGBTQ+ people.sa国际传媒

Only three of the people targeted by the complaints presented a defence. She was ordered to pay each of them $2,000 for her improper conduct.

Overall, the tribunal found that her testimony was sa国际传媒渄isingenuous and self-serving.sa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淚n cross-examination, she was evasive and argumentative, and contradicted herself,sa国际传媒 said the ruling.

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Among other issues, Yaniv, who has previously identified as a trans woman, at one point during the hearing claimed to be intersex, which means someone who is born with genitalia that may be indeterminate or have elements of both male and female genitalia. At other times, she referred to having sa国际传媒渕ale parts.sa国际传媒

She used fake names to approach some of the women, or used the name sa国际传媒淛onathansa国际传媒 and a photo on social media that showed her with short hair and no makeup.

One of the women testified she didnsa国际传媒檛 refuse her because she was transgender, but because she was frustrated with multiple texts from Yaniv and didnsa国际传媒檛 feel comfortable keeping the appointment.

The salon owner cancelled the appointment, but Yaniv found the womansa国际传媒檚 Facebook page and got it shut down by claiming the page didnsa国际传媒檛 use the womansa国际传媒檚 real name. Yaniv also made repeated attempts to contact her at work, and via text and Facebook. The woman became afraid and contacted the police. She eventually shut down her business entirely.

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Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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