Beauticians are not obligated to wax the male genitalia of transgender women, a court in Canada has ruled.
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal said that a group of mostly female aestheticians could not be compelled to wax the genitals of transgender activist Jessica Yaniv, who was born male but identifies as female.
After her request was refused, Yaniv began a legal challenge against Blue Heaven Beauty Lounge and Sandeep Benipal, Marcia DaSilva, Judy Tran, Pam Dulay, Merle Norman, Sukhdip Hehar, Suhki Beauty Dream Salon and Hina Moin.
But the court ruled that Yaniv was not discriminated against because scrotum waxing was not a service typically offered by the beauticians.
It also asserted that Yaniv's motives in bringing forward the legal challenge had been "improper" and ordered her to pay $2,000 in costs to Ms Benipal, Mrs Hehar and Ms Da Silva, who closed down her business in the wake of the dispute.
Devyn Cousineau, the Tribunal's legal counsel said: "In the genital waxing cases, I find that scrotum waxing was not a service customarily provided by the Respondents. As such, they did not deny Ms Yaniv a service and did not discriminate against her. I dismiss these complaints.
"In the leg and arm waxing cases, I find that Ms Yaniv filed the complaints for improper purposes. I dismiss these complaints."
She continued: "Her improper conduct has taken multiple forms and impacted a number of complaints. She has hurt the Respondents by filing these complaints for improper purposes. Her conduct has had a significant impact on the Tribunal's process, taking up a lot of its scarce time and resources.
"Ms Yaniv deliberately sought to weaponize the Tribunal for financial gain and to punish individuals and groups. There is no evidence of mitigating health‐related factors that could explain Ms Yaniv's choices throughout this process."
The verdict was welcomed by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a conservative law firm based in Calgary, Alberta.
"Self-identification does not erase physiological reality," said Jay Cameron, litigation manager at JCCF.
"No woman should be compelled to touch male genitals against her will, irrespective of how the owner of the genitals identifies."
