A transgender activist who filed complaints against several female beauticians after they refused to wax his male genitals has lost his court case, according to a decision released on Tuesday.
In 2018 Jonathan Yaniv, now known as Jessica, filed multiple complaints with the Human Rights Council in British Columbia accusing numerous estheticians of denying him service based on his gender identity.
Yaniv also accused the women of “forcing their beliefs on society” by using their “religion and culture” to refuse service to “protected groups.”
However, in a rare display of common sense, the BC Human Rights Tribunal ruled in favour of the home esthetician’s right to refuse to handle male genitalia against their will.
The decision noted, “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 tribunal also found Yaniv had “filed complaints for improper purposes”, and described Yaniv’s testimony as “disingenuous and self-serving.”
Yaniv was also ordered to pay $2,000 to each of the three respondents for engaging in “improper conduct.” Which is still little compensation for those women who were forced out of business due to the ordeal.
Jay Cameron, the Justice Centre’s Litigation Manager praised the ruling, saying, “No woman should be compelled to touch male genitals against her will, irrespective of how the owner of the genitals identifies.”
In total, Yaniv has filed 15 complaints against various women, seeking as much as $15,000 in damages against each esthetician.