Feel Good Friday: Strands for Trans recognizes local salons

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) —  “It allows them to find somewhere to experience gender affirmation and get the haircut they actually want,” said KJ Spata, a board member of Strands for Trans.   

Getting your haircut is something most people don’t think twice about.

Women go to salons, men go to barbershops, but getting a haircut when you are still discovering yourself can be uncomfortable.

“A lot of times they’ll go into a cis place, if they have to, and they’ll ask for a haircut and they won’t be taken seriously,” added Spata. 

The organization Strands for Trans aims to help those in the transgender community feel welcome in a hair salon, and has blossomed into 7,000 salons from across the country taking part in this movement.

Including a few right here in Charlottesville, like Ederra Salon.

“No questions asked, you’re just who you are when you walk in the door,” said Sarah Duquette, the owner of Ederra Salon.

Salons like Ederra aim to make their customers feel like one, big, happy family.

“We’re as open as we can be to lifestyles and to people’s choices, and we just wanted to be able to facilitate something like that for everyone, no matter what,” added Duquette. 

In the future, Strands for Trans hopes to keep expanding and touch more lives all across the country.

“We want to spread the word that gender affirming care in hair is real and can help people,” added Spata. 

For more information on Strands for Trans, click here.