Waxing Case Flares Up In Massachusetts Gender-Identity Law Debate

Advocates on either side of the gender-identity-law referendum clashed over whether the current law requires a female spa worker to provide a bikini wax for a biological male who identifies as a woman.

The Milton beauty parlor case, first reported by New Boston Post, provided one of several flashpoints during an hour-long debate Tuesday between Kasey Suffredini, co-chairman of the Yes on 3 campaign, and Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, who argued for a No vote to repeal the law. The debate took place on Radio Boston on WBUR FM-90.9.

At stake is Question 3, a statewide referendum that asks Massachusetts voters if they want to continue or end a statute enacted in 2016 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in public accommodations such as restaurants, bars, beauty parlors, public bathrooms, and locker rooms. A Yes vote continues the law as is; a No vote repeals it.

Question 3 does not affect a 2012 state statute that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employment, housing, education, lending, and credit. Instead, it would repeal the 2016 law that added “public accommodations” to the list.

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