Barber refuses to cut hair of trans army vet, citing Christian faith
The owner of a barber shop in California has refused to cut the hair of an out trans army veteran.
Richard Hernandez, who owns The Barbershop in Rancho Cucamonga, turned the veteran away based on religious grounds.
Kendall Oliver had booked to have his hair cut at the barbers, but when he turned up, Hernandez told him they don’t cut women’s hair.
Oliver said after he told the owner that he identifies as male, he was told: “It doesn’t matter ma’am, we still won’t cut a woman’s hair.”
“I don’t think that’s how someone should be discriminated against, whether they identify as male or female or transgender,” said Oliver, who served in Afghanistan.
“A person is a person.”
Speaking to CBS-LA, Hernandez said: “I have religious convictions that prevent me from cutting women’s hair.”
He said he believes that women should never cut their hair.
“It’s a shame for a man to have long hair, but if a woman has long hair, it’s her glory and it speaks to being given to her as her covering, and I don’t want to be one who is taking away from her glory,” he went on.
Hernandez says he is a member of the Church of God, and that he cannot cut the hair of a woman, “even if they identify themselves as a man.”
Although it is illegal to discriminate in the state of California based on gender, gender identity or gender expression, Hernandez feels he has done the right thing.
“I value the Constitution we have in this country and I hope it upholds for me as well as others,” he said.
