Nick Meinzer

Makeover shows like What Not to Wear and Style by Jury abound these days, illustrating the dramatic impact a new hairstyle can have on a person’s appearance. But some stylists complain their profession still doesn’t get the respect it deserves. “Many people think that our job is easy; especially when they can get any old scissors out and cut off their hair,” bemoans Seattle transgender stylist Lancer Forney.

It’s even more difficult for stylists who don’t happen to be gay men or feminine women, says San Francisco transman Nick Meinzer, also a stylist, complains that even as television shows like Bravo’s Shear Genius highlight the stylist behind the hairstyle, they do little to debunk the stereotype that it takes flamboyance or femininity to successfully wield a pair of scissors.

It’s a stereotype, Meinzer says, that has cost him business—especially when he was still a butchy dyke before he transitioned from female to male.  “I’ve had clients come in and refuse to let me cut their hair.” Instead they would demand a gay hairstylist, even when Meinzer had, “been there a decade and he’s been there three months.”

Still, Forney, Meinzer and other transmen who cut and style hair are creating a niche for themselves, serving transgender, genderqueer and other LGBT clients. They say that offering any cut, regardless of their customers’ gender identities or expression, sets them apart from other stylists.

 “You’d be surprised how many [stylists] simply refuse to cut women’s hair really short,” Meinzer remarks. “I don’t have strict rules about which cuts belong with which gender.”

Both Forney and Meinzer began their careers in the early 1990s, attending beauty school, and then learning the trade at up-scale salons. At the time, neither had transitioned. Forney recalls that his mother suggested he get into the field because he was always doing something different with his own hair. While Meinzer found the creative aspect of the job appealing, he admits he entered the profession hoping it would force him to become more feminine.

It didn’t. Far from feminine, the post-transition Meinzer is known locally as “the tranny hairdresser,” because he specializes in styling hair for MTF clients, who he says often experience bias and discrimination at other salons—even in the renown gay Castro district.

Forney would find that particularly unfortunate because he believes trans people need the advice of professional stylists. “Our hair and faces change throughout transition,” he notes. “The texture, amount of hair, how it lays and how it looks, all changes when we change our appearances with hormones and different clothing.”

Meinzer recommends his transwomen clients grow out their bangs, but he suggests less length overall. He argues that while people assume length automatically equates femininity, “There’s no point having it long if it doesn’t look good,” and he insists some short styles can be equally feminine and flattering.

Forney says what he likes the most about his job is the diversity of his clientele because he specializes in “hair that most stylists don’t want to see going into nor out of their chairs.”

Despite the challenges they’ve faced as trans stylists, both men have reached levels of success, gaining faithful clientele and having been featured in national magazines. After fifteen years in the business they both have become self-employed. (Meinzer operates a chair at San Francisco’s Spencer and Company, while Forney works from Pandemos Salon, in Seattle.)

Featured in a recent issue of Curve magazine Forney (yourhairguy.com) has also created hair sculptures for Seattle’s Bumbershoot Visual Arts Gala; while Meinzer (hairbynicky.com) often donates his services to LGBT fundraisers benefiting organizations like San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Academy and Trannyfest.

“People should look the best they can for their own uniqueness; not like a celebrity or their best friend,” contends Forney. “Going through most of my career looking like someone that I wasn’t…has given me a unique perspective. I don’t like being a human clone, having to wear one of five haircuts that a given salon will give their clients.”

Blind Curves, the first Blind Eye mystery co-authored by trans writer Jacob Anderson-Minshall, is available now through powells.com. Contact jake@trans-nation.org or visit Anderson-minshall.com for more information.