To Wax or Not To Wax:  Question 3 Radio Debate on Gender Identity Puts Transgender Beauty Spa Case Front and Center

The Milton beauty parlor bikini wax case featured prominently in a radio debate on Question 3 on Thursday night, as advocates battled over the details and whether the state's gender identity law could be used to force a female spa worker to provide intimate hair removal services for a biological male who identifies as a woman.

State Representative Paul Tucker (D-Salem), a retired Salem police chief, argued for a Yes vote on Question 3, which would continue a state law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in public accommodations like restaurants, stores, beauty parlors, public bathrooms, and locker rooms. Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, argued for No on Question 3, which would repeal the law.