Welsh hairdresser bans bigots from his salon with window sign: 'If you are racist, sexist, homophobic or an a***hole ...don't come in'
Hairdresser says he reacted to a customer who refused to let a colleague cut his son's hair - because he's gay
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A hairdresser has banned all bigots from visiting his salon in Wales after a father refused to let one of stylists cut his 10-year-old son’s hair – because he was gay.
Russell Hughes – who owns Russell Paul Hairdressing in Denbighshire, north-east Wales – placed a sign in his window reading: ‘If you are racist, sexist, homophobic or an a***hole ...don't come in’.
Describing how, this week, he was busy with a client, Mr Hughes, 49, asked his colleague, Richard Evans, 23, to see to some parents who had walked into the hairdressers with their son.
He said: “The man came up to me at that point and said: ‘I’m not being funny, but did you just say that lad’s going to cut my son’s hair?’ to which I replied: ‘Yes’.
“’He then said: ‘Well, I assume he’s gay and I don’t want him cutting my lad’s hair, so could you do it?’ to which I said no because I’m gay as well.”
Mr Hughes said the man stormed out of the salon with his wife and son, adding that the staff was left in shock.
The hairdresser took to Facebook to post about the incident which attracted a massive response from the public.
Having been on the High Street with his salon for 14 years, Mr Hughes said he had seen the sign online for years – and now had the perfect reason to proudly display it in his salon’s window.
He said: “Now was the time to get it. I've put it in the window to make sure we don't get people like that in here again.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments