He says religious convictions forbid him from cutting women’s hair, but an Eastvale resident sees discrimination.
Since high school, Kendall Oliver has preferred short hair, half an inch on the sides and three to four inches on top.
When Oliver, a transgender Army veteran, visited a Rancho Cucamonga barbershop in March seeking a trim, the owner refused because he perceived Oliver to be female.
Richard Hernandez, who owns The Barbershop on Milliken Avenue, said his Christian religious beliefs forbid him from cutting women’s hair.
“It’s not a matter of discrimination, it’s a matter of religious convictions,” the 30-year-old Ontario resident said. “It’s something I can’t compromise on. To me, that’s a sin and it’s something I can’t do. You can put a gun to my head. It’s not something I’m able to change.”
Oliver, a 24-year-old Eastvale resident, filed a lawsuit in late May alleging the business violated California’s civil rights law when it denied Oliver a haircut based on religious objections.
“I was very disappointed, embarrassed, upset,” Oliver said. “There were other people staring at me. I don’t understand, especially in this day and age with how far we’ve come with equality and human rights, that something like this would still be happening.”
The case is the latest in a series of legal battles across the country that pit religious freedom against discrimination.
The debate has ensnared an Indiana pizza shop that wouldn’t cater a gay wedding, New Mexico photographers who didn’t want to take official pictures at a lesbian wedding ceremony and a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
“It’s not going to be the last time we have these things,” said Ivan Strenski, professor emeritus of religious studies at UC Riverside. “I think the country is going to have to get over this idea of seeing things as black and white. There’s going to be a lot of gray in the world: racially mixed marriages, racially mixed kids, gender bending.”
‘NO, MA’AM’
Oliver, who grew up in Ontario, has served more than six years in the Army Reserve, including a tour of Afghanistan. Oliver was born as a female but identifies more male than female.
In adulthood, Oliver came to terms with being transgender. As a self-description, Oliver uses gender-neutral pronouns such as “they” rather “she” or “he.”
When Oliver arrived at The Barbershop for an appointment March 8, a woman with short hair on one side and longer hair on the other was already there. Hernandez told her he didn’t cut women’s hair and she left, the lawsuit states. Oliver was still optimistic about being served because Oliver didn’t have long hair.
Hernandez looked at Oliver and repeated that he didn’t cut women’s hair, the lawsuit says.
“I was like, ‘Even though I already have short hair?” I just want to get it like the guy in the chair right now,” Oliver recalled telling him.