Controversial waxing case dismissed by human rights tribunal
Posted October 22, 2019 2:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A high-profile, controversial case involving Vancouver-area waxing salons before the B.C. Human Rights tribunal has been dismissed.
Jessica Yaniv, who is a transgender woman, brought a complaint over salons refusing to wax her genitals, arms and legs, saying this was discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.
But the tribunal has dismissed the complaint, and instead ordered Yaniv to pay $2,000 to three waxing salons involved in the case for improper conduct during the course of the complaints.
The tribunal found that, although three salons offered Brazilian waxes, the providers did not offer scrotum waxing, and so it was not discriminatory to refuse the service.
Two other salons refused to wax Yaniv’s arms and legs, and while the tribunal member agrees there is no difference in waxing these body parts for a transgender or cisgender person, the complaint was made in bad faith.
All but one of the salons in the complaint provided waxing from their homes or from their clients’ homes. Most providers are people of colour whose first language is not English.
“I find that Ms. Yaniv’s predominant motive in filing her waxing complaints is not to prevent or remedy alleged discrimination, but to target small businesses for personal financial gain. In many of these complaints, she is also motivated to punish racialized and immigrant women based on her perception that certain ethnic groups, namely South Asian and Asian communities, are “taking over” and advancing an agenda hostile to the interests of LGBTQ+ people. These motives are not consistent with the Code’s purposes, and in particular its purpose of promoting a climate of understanding and mutual respect, where all are equal in dignity and rights: s. 3,” reads the decision.
Yaniv has faced criticism from within the transgender community, and has been used by anti-trans activists as an example of predatory behaviour.
B.C. Human Rights Tribunal decision
[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.citynews1130.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/sites/9/2019/10/22/222_Yaniv_v_Various_Waxing_Salons_No_2_2019_BCHRT_222.pdf”]
