How this Kentville salon is a safe haven for 2SLGBTQ+ clients

Celina Aalders · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 28, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 28

Farrah Ferguson volition ne'er hide the feeling of axenic joyousness they felt erstwhile they shaved their caput for the archetypal time.

"I looked successful the reflector and I said, 'Oh my God, I look truthful cute,'" said Ferguson. "That was the infinitesimal of, 'Oh wow, this is truly however I privation to explicit myself.'"

They said for years, radical would discourage them from having thing but agelong locks, which is wherefore erstwhile Bridge Beauty Bar opened successful downtown Kentville, N.S., past year, Ferguson became a returning customer.

"There are a batch of places you tin spell to person hairsbreadth and esthetics done successful the valley, which I'm definite they each person their ain merits. But arsenic gender-diverse radical …not everybody ever feels harmless going into a accepted salon oregon barbershop," said Ferguson.

"Some radical are acrophobic of however they volition beryllium perceived, whether determination volition beryllium assumptions made astir who they are and however they present," they said. "So it's truly important to beryllium capable to locomotion successful determination and know, 'I beryllium here.'"

When Mel Hiltz, a trans and non-binary hairstylist, opened the Bridge Beauty Bar successful January 2024, that's precisely what they wanted to achieve.

The salon fosters a harmless abstraction for clients, portion breaking down sex norms successful the quality manufacture by providing gender-affirming haircuts and services.

Hiltz said one of the champion feelings is being capable to springiness idiosyncratic a haircut that allows them to explicit who they genuinely are.

"It is astir apt the astir rewarding portion of my job," said Hiltz.

Hiltz moved from Halifax to the vale arsenic an effort to bring much queer-owned businesses to agrarian Nova Scotia.

"I deliberation 1 of the biggest worries going into immoderate caller abstraction arsenic a trans oregon non-binary idiosyncratic is that you're going to get misgendered, oregon you're going to beryllium judged," said Hiltz.

In hopes of erasing this interest for their clients, Bridge Beauty Bar has implemented a fig of practices, including asking for the client's sanction and pronouns up of an appointment.

Staff besides stock their pronouns with clients, and are thoughtful astir the connection they choose. For example, they mightiness usage presumption similar "soft" oregon "flowy" to picture someone's hair, alternatively of "feminine," said Hiltz.

The salon is besides equipped with gender-neutral washrooms and offers pricing based connected the clip spent successful the chair, arsenic opposed to having different prices for men and women.

The Dresscode Project

These efforts are each portion of an initiative called The Dresscode Project, a run to make harmless spaces successful salons for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

The radical was founded successful Toronto by hairstylist Kristin Rankin, and has implicit 500 subordinate salons and shops successful North America, including six successful Nova Scotia. There's a directory connected its website wherever clients tin find businesses associated with the project.

There are respective criteria to go a subordinate of The Dresscode Project, but astir notably, the salon indispensable take astatine slightest 1 time per twelvemonth to connection escaped haircuts to 2SLGBTQ+ clients.

"This fun, and often life-changing lawsuit allows those to spot themselves for the archetypal time, helping to displacement their sex dysphoria into euphoria," says the website.

Hiltz and their unit hosted this year's lawsuit connected Wednesday, to coincide with the yearly Valley Pride festival. They provided escaped haircuts oregon waxing services to astir 25 clients.

Hiltz said for their archetypal lawsuit of the day, it was her archetypal gender-affirming haircut.

"We were some astir successful tears by the extremity of it," said Hiltz.

Client Kiran Awrey, emphasized however important these offerings are, arsenic they excessively person had experiences successful the past astatine salons wherever stylists assumed their sex and what benignant they'd want.

"The hairdresser's benignant of inputting what they deliberation would look bully oregon beauteous connected maine erstwhile … I wasn't going to look similar a pistillate necessarily," said Awrey.

Awrey is present a loyal lawsuit astatine Hiltz's salon, but said the concern represents something more than a spot to get haircuts.

"[To] proceed present into their 2nd twelvemonth is besides truly important for the assemblage to spot that queer concern and queer radical thrive here. It's conscionable heartwarming to spot that there's benignant of this beacon for us," said Awrey.

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