Los Angeles (AFP) – The owner of a California barber shop is in hot water after denying a haircut to a transgender male who was told he looked like a woman.
According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in a Los Angeles court, Rose Trevis was bluntly informed that women were not welcome when attempting to get a haircut at Hawleywood’s Barber Shop in Long Beach earlier this month.
The suit alleges that Travis was told Hawleywood’s was an “old-school barber shop” and it was best to try to get a cut at another salon.
“Who says I’m a woman?” Trevis fired back, according to the lawsuit.
One of the barbers in the shop allegedly responded: “Like I said, we don’t cut women’s hair.”
When told the shop’s policy was discriminatory, another barber responded “we don’t care” and “women are not even allowed in the shop,” the suit alleges.
Hawleywood’s website describes the shop as a “real men’s sanctuary” where customers can indulge in the latest issue of The Horse Backstreet Choppers — a motorcycle magazine — and where “one thing you won’t see … is women.”
The lawsuit alleges that Travis “felt ashamed and humiliated” by Hawleywood’s denial of service and seeks unspecified damages.
The owner of Hawleywood’s, which lists three locations in California and one in Sydney, Australia, could not immediately be reached for comment.
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