Toronto woman denied haircut files human rights complaint

[Glacier]

They are saying their holy book says they can't cut a woman's hair. That's religion. They never said anything about only serving Muslims.

Some people follow the Holy Koran, some people follow the Holy Book of Al Gore, and some people follow the teachings of Ayn Rand. Some may even follow all three, but that is irrelevant to the fact it matters not where you derive your morals, only that they do not infringe on the rights of others... and given the fact there are 100s of places this women could go for a hair cut, her rights are not violated here.

[grammafreddy]

Naw, no bet from me. The Muslims will win because they always do against a Caucasian of any other religion.

[grammafreddy]

They are saying their holy book says they can't cut a woman's hair. That's religion. They never said anything about only serving Muslims.

Some people follow the Holy Koran, some people follow the Holy Book of Al Gore, and some people follow the teachings of Ayn Rand. Some may even follow all three, but that is irrelevant to the fact it matters not where you derive your morals, only that they do not infringe on the rights of others... and given the fact there are 100s of places this women could go for a hair cut, her rights are not violated here.

Well, there were other motels and B&Bs the gay men could have stayed at, too. But the religious card meant nothing when Molnars said it was against their religion.

http://www.xtra.ca/public/Vancouver/Chr ... 12319.aspx

Smith drew comparisons between this case and the 2005 Knights of Columbus case in which the BC Human Rights Tribunal upheld the Knights of Columbus' religious freedom when it ruled they didn't have to rent their hall for a lesbian wedding, which would go against their core beliefs.

Marion, however, found that the function of the Molnars’ bed and breakfast, which they have since closed, was to offer temporary accommodation without any express restriction, to the general public.

“In this regard, I note that the Riverbend was operated as a for-profit business, and that the Molnars managed it as individual citizens,” Marion ruled. “Unlike the Knights case, the Molnars did not operate the Riverbend on behalf of the Church, and the Church had no direct involvement in its operations.”

Marion emphasized that the Molnars voluntarily chose to turn their home into a bed and breakfast out of their own free will for a number of reasons, including to “supplement their retirement income and to take vacations in a sunnier environment.

“Unlike the decision in Knights, I am not persuaded that the standard of restricting accommodation in single bed rooms to married heterosexual couples was adopted for a purpose or goal that was rationally connected to the Riverbend’s function, which was to offer temporary accommodation to the general public,” Marion ruled. “The standard was rationally connected to the Molnar’s personal religious beliefs, but not to the function or purpose of the Riverbend.”

I am not seeing any difference between the Molnar's private business and the barber shop as a private business.

[FreeRights]

While you can exclude majorities, the fact is you cannot discriminate against minorities. "Boy scouts" cannot deny girls from joining, but "girl guides" can deny boys from joining. A business can serve women, gays, or aboriginals only, but a business cannot serve men, heteros, or whites only. I'm not making a value judgement on this case; I'm merely stating how it works.

Note: a minority is not determined my numbers, but rather by power and clout.

Do you have an example of a business that only serves gays or aboriginals?

[French Castanut]

While you can exclude majorities, the fact is you cannot discriminate against minorities. "Boy scouts" cannot deny girls from joining, but "girl guides" can deny boys from joining. A business can serve women, gays, or aboriginals only, but a business cannot serve men, heteros, or whites only. I'm not making a value judgement on this case; I'm merely stating how it works.

Note: a minority is not determined my numbers, but rather by power and clout.

Do you have an example of a business that only serves gays or aboriginals?

Scandal in Montreal! The direction of a gay bar district refuses entrance to his establishment for women.
"The Stud" therefore boasts of being "one of the most virile bars in town" ...
The case caused a stir in Canada when Audrey Vachon, a young lady of 20 years, filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights for discrimination. The young woman had been evicted from the terrace of the bar when she wanted a drink with his father!

Discrimination is sometimes where you least expect it, from there a community often rejected ... In France also, many gay bars offering evening "Men's Only" ...

Source:http://fr.canoe.ca/infos/societe/archives/2008/04/20080430-081403.html

Funny how Montreal is refered as a "town".

[Artofthedeal]

Naw, no bet from me. The Muslims will win because they always do against a Caucasian of any other religion.

It will be interesting to see GF, as this case will definitely define which card in the deck is the higher one (gay or Muslim) when it comes to frivolous and useless cases like this one that the HRC sucks down millions of our taxpayer dollars annually to adjudicate. My guess is that the HRC will take the coward's way out, which they always do when the going gets tough, and announce that they have "no jurisdiction" etc. and will drop the case. That's what they did in the Mark Steyn/Macleans nonsense anyway. That way they don't have to make a decision. Or the Muslims will just do what most businesses and individuals do in these cases - close up shop and move away rather than continue to incur legal fees to fight a stupid nonsensical claim from yet another bonehead busybody. Anyone remember this stupid case that Rex Murphy exposed a few years ago?

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... wave-oven/

Here's why busy-bodies continue to file these complaints - there usually is a pot of gold at the end of the frivolous rainbow...unless the unfortunate victim of these complaints can get their case reviewed by a real court, as in the case Rex Murphy referenced...

Yet it was upon this flawed edifice and impossible reasoning that the tribunal moved on to its penalties. It ordered fines and costs totalling $36,000 against the employer, Ms. Tefler. Since the accused had little money, the lawyers working for the complainant decided they would go after the woman’s house — have it auctioned off — to get the microwave money for their client.

[AllthatFunk]

Personally if I walked into any shop and they said we don't cut womens hair, I would find somewhere else to go. This woman was discriminated against due to sex, that is not legal in this country and she has every right to pursue action if she chooses. Likely she is just trying to prove a point.

For those of you saying, give her a crappy haircut and she won't come back...wrong, you'd find yourself at the receiving end of a nasty lawsuit.

As for scouts and guides, yes girls can join scouts but boys can also join guides contrary to someone elses earlier statement. Very few boys choose to join guides though.

Hopefully the barber doesn't lose his business over this but if he does hopefully he learns that it isn't a good idea to discriminate against anyone. I mean if his wife walked into a bank dressed in a burka and she was asked to uncover her face or leave he'd be at the human rights commision in minutes.

[grammafreddy]

he'd be at the human rights commision in minutes.

seconds

[normaM]

As I have said, she was looking for a fight ( she should have come to Castanet Kelowna)
Honestly, in my Life if I was walking down the street and saw a Muslim Barbershop my first thought wouldn't be wow I bet they can make me styling

I'm going to open up a hair cutting place - call it if you have to ask how much you can't afford it
see who shows

And GF, that clip is History!!!

[Captain Awesome]

Reminds me of a guy who tried to join Curves For Women (some women-only fitness club) and raised a big stink how it's discriminating. Some people just have nothing else to do in their life.

[grammafreddy]

Awwww ... I bet it was the name of the barber shop that gave it away that it was Muslim - right? Terminal Barber Shop is sooo Muslim.

I like the name of your new hair cutting place, Norma.

What clip is history? You mean my haircut? Hey - I have a new one now. Got it at the barber shop in town here. I am sooo stylin'!!! Halle Berry was there, too. Now y'all know her secret to a great cut.

[Ken7]

What’s this world coming too...

When will they just say no and have the right to take a stand?? Females playing in PGA golf tournaments, what would happen if Tiger said I'd like to play and win the LPGA tournament??

We now have men in Beauty pageants... HUH.

I think there has to be a line drawn; common sense is no longer common because people won't just say no! I could ramble on and on about "JUST SAYING NO."

[goatboy]

Replace woman with African, would that be acceptable?

[AllthatFunk]

What’s this world coming too...

When will they just say l no and have the right to take a stand?? Females playing in PGA golf tournaments, what would happen if Tiger said I'd like to play and win the LPGA tournament??

We now have men in Beauty pageants... HUH.

I think there has to be a Iine drawn; common sensecis no longer common because people can't just say no! I could ramble on and on about "JUST SAYING NO."

I have to agree. Can't we give the sexes back their differences without trying to claim that one sex is somehow better than the other. After all, we need each other to keep this big ball working. Men should have the right to have their own places/events just as much as we girls should. Believe me, I love to compete and its fun to do some of the stuff guys typically like to do. But I don't necessarily want to spend time in the locker room with a bunch of sweaty guys..... unless they all look like Bradley Cooper.

[Artofthedeal]

Rex Murphy nails it again! Man the HRC's and the crazy people who utilize them sure are an un-ending fount of stupidity for Rex to mock! Enjoy...


A barber’s epigraph:
Worthy a Prince of the Tonsorian race
The best that e’re with steel mow’d Human face
— Remarks and collections of Thomas Hearne
.
I knew it was a glaring gap back on the day it all became official. Where, oh where, in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms was the clause or reference dealing with the cardinal human right of Toronto women to have their hair cut by the Muslim barber of their choice?

It was not there! Not a word. The Charter was nude of any connection, any allusion or annotation: no references to bangs, teases, shampoos or styling, clippers, scissors or shaving brushes. Tonsorially, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was a total hairless bust.

Thus, by great omission, did a terrible injustice creep into the world.

Has not the right to get the haircut you choose at the establishment of your insistence been a cry of the human heart since the age of the hairy — and I must say unkempt — Neanderthals? Haircuts, trims and shampoos have been a grand theme of freedom for all of us over the eons. On the lips of liberty has always been a prayer for just the right haircut from the barber of your choice. Patrick Henry’s great call — Give me a ducktail, or let me cut my own — still sends shivers up every waxed enlightened back.

Was it not the shout of the barons on the fields of Runnymede, in 1215 before the granting of the Magna Carta? “Trim the back, easy on the sides and a little off the top — or give us death!” And are not their names recorded in the ground-breaking Marie Clairol Book of Fabulous Perms and Human Rights?

Even more, has not insisting on the barber of your choice, or hauling him before some psuedo-court — regardless, of course, of his feelings or practice — been a classic theme of womens’ dignity and autonomy over time? Closely allied, too, as has been noted in the scholarly literature on the subject, with that even stronger human right — the right not to have dandruff while wearing black.

And yet here in Canada, years after Edward Scissorhands even, a woman can still stumble into a men’s barber shop and be informed by the petty, wretched little hair-chopper in the corner that, “Sorry, we only do men in this shop.”

OK. I am being just a little sarcastic. What else, with this story, can one be? Comfort and security have made us addle pates. It is becoming a task to follow the daily news and not be gobsmacked by stories of such shallowness, narcissism and pettiness that the first impression on reading them is that they must be fakes, sad jokes or mad fiction.

Which is how I felt on first reading of the woman who insists that she have her hair cut in a barbershop for men, where non-incidentally the barber is a Muslim. Short story, barber says he is a man’s barber, and further, being Muslim, cannot practice his trade on women. Most people at this point would leave and look for another, more inclusive, striped pole. Toronto has, remember, more than one barber.

The lady in question, however, in a spirit of entitlement and melodrama, has taken offence; claimed her “human rights” have been outraged; and, naturally, trotted off to the open pit mine of hypertrophic grievances — the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She duly claims, absent the barber of her choice, she is being treated like a “second class citizen.”

So what happens? Well, if things go as usual, in this wise and mainly benign country, a human rights apparatus will hear this cri d’clipper. It will involve needless misery and expense for the “offender” — in this case the reluctant barber. There will be publicity. Most likely fines. Lawyers will be involved. Rulings written. All for the whim of a trim.

And all so one woman in Toronto can test whether a female has a right to force someone else to cut her hair when said someone: (a) does not want the trade; (b) does not and has not ever cut women’s hair; and (c) is Muslim and claims his religion does not smile on the touching of strange women — whether clipping the bangs or not. Did we invent courts, judges, tribunals and the very concept of human rights to burn time and money on such idleness?

Should the dim day arrive, under some demented ethos, that picking your own barber is declared a human right, then it will be the effective end of true human rights — their having been remorselessly trivialized to the point of absolute nullity.

Bang on Rex. Bang on.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... -hair-day/