The Barber's Chair changes policy after genderqueer customer complains

The Barber's Chair has changed its policy to allow anyone, regardless of their gender, to have a haircut.

This comes after Debby Nunes considered filing a complaint to The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario because her gender prevented her from getting a haircut at the Windsor barbershop Thursday.

Nunes booked an appointment with The Barber's Chair in the Devonshire Mall, but when she showed up along with her partner, they denied her service.

"[They said] we don't do women's haircuts," she said. "I did get emotional because it does bring up past experiences that I've had."

"My first thought was, 'How do you know I'm a woman?'"

Nunes identifies as genderqueer, which means she doesn't fit into the gender binary of being male or female.

The Barber's Chair said for 16 years they have been a 'men's only' shop.

After Nunes complained, management at Devonshire Mall showed The Barber's Chair the agreement it has with the barbershop.

The agreement is on the type of product or service they can sell, said Chris Savard, general manager of Devonshire Mall.

"[The lease agreement] has no definition as to who they can sell them to," he said. "The Barber's Chair could provide a men's style haircut to any customer,"

"Now that we recognize and we know that, we are more than happy to have people come in," said Kim Ralph, Manager of The Barber's Chair. "I'm very sad that happened yesterday."