Targeted Humiliation with Scissors – How Homosexuals Are Deliberately Humiliated and Given Bad Haircuts in Some Barber Shops

“It is widespread,” the man says, noting that it can vary from region to region. And he says it without hesitation. As soon as they realize that someone is not married, is perhaps suspected of being gay, or does not fit the classical Muslim image of a man, something else takes over for some colleagues. Then it is no longer about a customer, but about someone who is not wanted. “Then you just cut it badly,” he says. Deliberately. As a signal.

One colleague explicitly agreed with him, as did another. No irritation, no contradiction. “That’s normal,” was the reaction. Normal – within their own environment, within their own moral coordinate system.

Not an Isolated Incident, but a Pattern

The barber explicitly refuses to portray what he said as an exception. “I know several colleagues – whether from Germany, Switzerland, or Austria – who act exactly this way,” he says. He speaks of recurring experiences, not coincidences. And he mentions no exotic locations, but everyday cities like Berlin or Leipzig in Germany and Zurich in Switzerland. Different countries, same mechanics.

What makes him so sure is the consistency of the stories. “People talk about it,” he says. “It’s no secret.” The rejection is not voiced openly but is implemented through the craft. A bad haircut is the perfect sanction: publicly visible, effective for days – and almost impossible to prove.

The Scissors as an Instrument of Power

The barber becomes particularly clear when clearing up misunderstandings. “This isn’t about a bad mood or a mistake,” he says. “It’s intentional.”

He describes an interplay of religious conditioning, a patriarchal image of men, and internal group validation. “They feel they are in the right.” And they know the customer has few options. Complain? Report it? Prove it? Hardly possible.

It is precisely this quietness of discrimination that makes it so effective. No argument, no scandal – but a clear message: You are not welcome here.

Differentiated – but not Defused

The barber himself calls for precise differentiation without downplaying the problem. Not every shop functions the same way. In some barber shops, this behavior is part of the internal culture, an unspoken policy. “Everyone there knows how it works,” he says. Anyone who doesn't fit the image is not openly rejected but is not treated correctly either.

In other shops, it depends more on the individual person. “With one colleague it applies, with the next one it doesn’t,” he says. For those affected, this means good or bad luck – depending on who is holding the scissors at that moment. This is exactly what makes the situation so unpredictable.

A colleague confirmed this assessment to him. Sometimes it is shop culture, sometimes an individual attitude – but never a coincidence. “It happens regularly,” he says.

A Specific Location, a Familiar Silence

The barber does not remain abstract. "In Leipzig, in the Jahnallee area," there is a barber "who is notorious for this," he says. The name comes up again and again in conversations among colleagues – but never publicly. People know what happens there, and they also know why certain customers avoid this shop.

He is not speaking of hearsay, but of knowledge known within the scene. “Word gets around,” he says. “Not officially, but everyone knows.” The fact that he doesn’t name names is no coincidence. “As soon as you name names, you make yourself vulnerable.” These structures rely exactly on that: staying below the legal threshold but above any moral limit.

No Cultural Argument, No Excuse

Neither origin nor religion nor personal moral concepts justify this behavior. Those who work in open societies accept their fundamental values. Equal treatment is not a matter of negotiation. Those who deliberately treat homosexuals poorly mock these values – and exploit the gray areas of everyday life.

In addition, two or three customers have described their experiences to NETZ-TRENDS.de – independently of one another, without knowledge of the other's statements. All report extremely botched haircuts, so obviously flawed that an explanation of lack of experience or a bad day no longer holds up. “It wasn't just bad – it was systematically destroyed,” says one of those affected. Another reports that he left the shop and had to have it corrected by another hairdresser that same day. The second hairdresser's judgment was clear: “Nobody cuts like that by accident.”

He also admits, however, that similar behavior is often shown toward customers who give the impression that they have money, i.e., are wealthy. Such customers are also often intentionally given bad haircuts.

This is not a journalistic exaggeration or a sharp thesis. These are the statements of an insider, supported by two other colleagues and several customers who have had exactly these experiences. What is described here is a practice with intent – a form of discrimination that is used deliberately, hurts deliberately, and functions for so long precisely because it remains quiet, because it hides behind craftsmanship, taste, and ambiguity.

The fact that this is being talked about is long overdue.

The fact that it is being clearly named is as well.

Naturally, there are thousands of barbers who work professionally, exclude no one, and reject such mindsets. That is indisputable. But this very fact must not be abused as a shield to relativize or hush up the problem. The existence of many decent people does not invalidate the misconduct of others – on the contrary, it makes it all the more necessary to name it openly.

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Category: Lifestyle

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